


Vilde Valravn

by DrNeverland



Series: You Never Hear the One That Gets You [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Babies, Breastfeeding, Canon-Typical Violence, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Feelings Realization, Light Angst, Memories, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Near Death Experiences, Nightmares, Non-Graphic Violence, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pregnancy, Scars, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2018-12-25 14:17:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12037650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrNeverland/pseuds/DrNeverland
Summary: Valkyrie has let Gage go; Now she is left with her other problems: The Brotherhood's presence, pressure to remain as General to the Minutemen, and single parenthood.





	1. Glass-Hearted Assassin

Ocean air still smelled like salt and dead fish. No matter how far the boat drifted from the shore or at what speed, the scent hardly changed. Even the acrid sting of radiation to her sinuses couldn’t kill off the vile smell of rot.

Valkyrie leaned on the railing of the Nakano’s boat, hoping the speed of the passing sea breeze would help to clear her senses. The week that had passed since releasing Gage had not been easy, or pleasant.

_“General, I still don’t think letting him go is a good idea,” Preston argued, watching Gage take off from the parapet of the Castle wall._

_Valkyrie stood beside him and watched Gage go, feeling as though a Behemoth was slowly squeezing the air from her lungs. She turned to descend the steps from the parapet, heading back into the main part of the Castle to redress in the General’s gear._

_“He has to go. It was a mistake, keeping him here,” she clipped._

_Preston scoffed. “Might have been one keeping him ali-“ Preston winced when Val turned and punched him in the shoulder._

_“I don’t wanna hear that from you again, Garvey. I’m still pissed at you for suggesting we take out the Brotherhood.”_

_“They’re still a problem-“ Val snatched Preston by his lapels and pulled him up close, speaking right into his face._

_“There are **kids** on that vessel, Preston, and I’m not going to murder _ children _just so the Minutemen can play police again. They can stick around, for all I care. So long as they’re not hunting us, specifically, I don’t give a shit about that fucking blimp. You hear me?” Val shook him once, and then let him go. “The Minutemen aren’t stable enough to protect the Commonwealth alone. If they start attacking settlements, then and **only then** , will we retaliate.”_

_Preston staggered back and smoothed out his coat. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, apologetic. “Are you still heading to Maine, then?”_

_“I have to. Shaun’s not gonna walk home.”_

Nick sidled up beside Valkyrie, leaning his weight into her shoulder. He didn’t speak for a few moments, just observing the long, black distance across the sea at night. A few irradiated fish swam by in schools below the boat, making the sea flicker with greenish tint.

“I fucked things up, Nick,” Valkyrie started. She stared at the water, as the boat glided over, not focused too long on any one detail as they passed.

“Welcome to my world,” Nick chuckled, turning so his back was to the railing. Val joined him, her arms folded over her chest.

“What did you fuck up, Tinman? As far as I can tell, you’re pretty clean next to me.”

Nick smirked and nudged her gently with his arm. “Tell that to Ellie when I’ve had a few late nights. Papers everywhere, cigarette butts all over the desk. Real fire hazard.”

“So’s your exposed wires, but that doesn’t stop you from wearing clothes.” Val smiled and poked a finger into the opening along Nick’s jaw, being swatted away just as quick.

“Stop picking on me just because you feel shitty about yourself.” Nick backed away and lit a cigarette. “You can’t change a man’s philosophy with just a little pillow talk, no matter how good the _conversation_ is.”

Valkyrie sighed and shook her head. “I guess the whole ‘power of love’ thing really is bullshit, huh?”

Nick put his undamaged hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Not bullshit, but just not as strong here in the Wasteland. In the end, you did the right thing.”

Scoffing, Val brushed Nick’s hand off and backed away from him. “I wish I hadn’t.”

“Hindsight’s 20-20, kid.”

Smoke billowed out along the rips in Nick’s synthetic skin, his eyes casting an eerie glow in the dark. Valkyrie wondered if she’d ever get used to the chill that ran up her spine whenever he did that. Rubbing her arms to fend off the shivers, Valkyrie shifted from foot to foot, restless. At least the cold ocean air let her hide the goosebumps she got around Valentine.

“What would you have done? And I’m not asking you as just my friend. Don’t tell me what you think might make me feel better,” Val said, waddling in a tight circle to keep the blood flowing to her extremities.

Holding his cigarette in his teeth, Nick shrugged out of his overcoat and draped it over her shoulders, pulling it tight and rubbing her arms. Val muttered about him being “a true gentleman,” earning a snicker out of the old Synth.

“I hadn’t planned on trying to make you feel better. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the whole idea of you falling for a Raider,” Nick said, grabbing his smoke in his claw. “I mean, if you wanted a bad boy with good intentions, Hancock’s clearly made advances.”

“Hancock _advances_ on anyone with a **pulse** , Nick. And I still feel shitty for taking out Fahrenheit.”

“Thought he didn’t hold it against you?”

“I also talked Bobbi No-Nose into leaving, instead of killing her. He doesn’t know. I took as much as I could carry to pay him back but…” Val huffed and pulled Nick’s coat up further onto her shoulders. “He hasn’t called me on it.”

Nick flicked his cigarette butt overboard. “Probably because you took care of that slime ball Sinjin and saved poor Kent Connolly in the process. Not to mention getting The Slog on its feet.”

“Oh, Kent. He’s a precious bean, I’ll give him that.” Valkyrie smiled, promising herself to visit Kent as The Shroud when she got back.

“That ‘bean’s’ older than you are, even counting the years you spent frozen,” Nick chortled, leaning on the railing again. “But he is a sweet guy, too gentle for this world. He’s in good hands with the girls.” Waving his skinless hand, Nick shook his head. “Quit derailing the subject. We’re talking about you, and your terrible life choices.”

Val snorted and rubbed at her nose. “Oh, **honey** , if you only knew.”

“We got time before Maine.”

Taking a deep breath, Val gestured for him to follow. “Below deck, then. I don’t want you to throw me overboard.”

Val frowned over the hushed tone Nick took, the sympathy a little too forgiving to bear.

“Kid, you know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“After what I tell you about my life prior to being a frozen banana, you might. What I did before the war was illegal, and treason. What I did in Nuka World… I had fun. I don’t know what you’ve thought of me this whole time, but if you want the truth, it’s gonna color your opinion of me, one way or the other.”

Sitting down on a couple of barrels in the lower deck, Val pitched into the tale: what she had told Gage of her being a pre-war sniper, a mercenary for the government, a shadow and stain on the history of the U.S. Like all stains, she had never been easy to get rid of, so she ended up hidden away with a civilian life when the other Mercs she worked with became too big for their breeches.

“I don’t think I ever _loved_ Nate, but he was a good guy. Told me he wanted to ‘do right by me’ after he got me pregnant.” Val rubbed at her forehead and sighed. “I had thought he would want me to get rid of it… maybe Shaun wouldn’t have ended up the head of the Institute…” she mused.

Nick shook his head and tipped his head down. With his hat over his eyes, for a moment, Val could fool herself into thinking he looked human. Hell, Valentine was _more_ of a human than most people she dealt with, and counted herself in that number.

“If it wasn’t you, it would have just been somebody else’s kid,” Nick began. “The Institute didn’t care about human lives, just toying with them. That’s how we both ended up where we are. An old prototype and a genetic donor, two hundred years cast out of time.”

Val barked a laugh, forcing it over the sickness in her stomach. “You have a way with words, Valentine. Maybe you should have been a poet instead of a cop.”

Nick looked up at her, his brow furrowed over a humble smile. “You’ve got a way of uniting people. Maybe you should have been a leader.”

“…you really gotta cut me there, Nick?”

“I promised Preston I’d try to get you to change your mind. I honestly don’t think you’re ready for retirement.” Nick folded his hands together in front of himself. “I did warn him not to wait by the phone.”

Val sat up and blew out a long breath, pulling Nick’s coat around her shoulders from where it had slipped down. “I might consider staying on as damage control. The Minutemen are bigger now.”

“Thanks to you recruiting a few dozen bloodthirsty cowards. I still don’t know how you plan on getting ex-Raiders to get along with current Minutemen.”

Smirking, Val folded one leg over the other and leaned back against the boat’s wall. “They’ve got talents. It’s just a matter of utilizing them the right way.” She stretched her back and groaned, the ship’s chilly interior no better than being above decks. “You played chess, right?”

“More of a poker man.”

Val snorted and exhaled, releasing her stretch with a relieved sigh. “You are such a stereotype. Next thing you’ll tell me, you ate-“

Nick chortled and waved his hand to cut her off. “No, no, I hated donuts. Too sweet. What was the point you were going for?”

Val blinked, almost having forgotten in her playful mocking. “Oh! I just meant you gotta see the whole board and know how the pieces work to win, right? Or, maybe, if your opponent is too tough, back’em into a stalemate. No one wins, but no one loses, either.”

Thinking about her analogy, Nick looked away and rubbed his palms together, slowly. Val waited for Nick to come to his conclusion; she hated to admit that he was good at reading her, or maybe his Synth self just honed the “cop instincts” to razor sharpness.

“You want reinforcement if the Brotherhood starts something,” Nick said, no questioning to his tone. Val nodded, pointing at him with a “finger gun.” Nick sighed and tipped his hat back, smoothing over hair that wasn’t there in an unconscious gesture. “I don’t know if numbers will make much of a difference against miniguns and Power Armor. Even if you do get your Raider minions to cooperate…”

Val frowned and rubbed at her neck. “I know. I know… just… I need time to think. All this shit with the Institute, and Nuka World… Far Harbor…” She paused to chuckle, her head dropping down. “Think DiMA would take me in if I told him I’m a Synth?”

“I don’t know if he would. You made a pretty good case against yourself.”

Laughing, Val leaned forward, closer to Nick. “I suppose dropping trou to show off my ‘Shaun Scar’ was pretty compelling evidence.”

Nick chuckled and leaned closer to Val, his good hand on her shoulder. “And I never wanna see your bare ass again.”

Val blew him a kiss and winked. “Oh, why do you think I came all the way with you to Maine, you saucy old man?” she asked, dropping a sultry, teasing tone.

“To get wasted and end up in bed with a _Robobrain_.”

“Don’t judge my whirlwind romances. I’m sure I had a great time. The hangover was probably worth it.” Val grinned and shoved at Nick’s chest. “You had your chance, Inspector Judgeypants.”

  
The familiar, rolling gray of fog over Far Harbor greeted them like a blanket of light in the early morning hours. The sun cut swathes through the effusive mist; however, it had still not warmed the acidic clouds to the point of dissipation.

Val’s Pip-boy on her arm crackled with the ever-present radiation that surrounded Far Harbor, quieting to a few dull ticks by the time they reached the coast. Captain Avery met them on the docks, waving the pair to shore. In spite of knowing her shady origins, Val greeted the captain with a warm hug and a smile – she couldn’t hold DiMA’s crimes against Avery while maintaining the peace.

“Welcome back, folks. Smooth sailing, I take it?”

Valkyrie stepped back while Avery greeted Nick with a firm handshake. “Still haven’t seen any ghoulish whales, but after taking care of the Red Death, I don’t know if I’d want to,” she said, snickering. Nick threw her a puzzled look, but Val dodged it with a wave of her hand.

“Tell you when you’re older,” Val chortled, heading up the stairs to the island.

Nick looked skyward for strength as he followed Avery into the town. On the way, they made the usual small talk: Status of the island, the tight peace kept between Children of Atom, Acadia, and the other human islanders.

“…Trappers still give us some trouble, but with the settlements better warded and the Children cooperating with us, it’s just a matter of time until-“ Avery had begun, when a loud bellow caught their attention.

“SKIPPER!”

Val turned and grinned broadly, taking off at a run toward the name called out. As she left Nick’s side, she could hear him chuckle out something about “like a big kid” before throwing her arms around Old Longfellow’s neck.

“GRAMPS!”

Longfellow coughed out his greeting when she struck, and thumped his hands on her back, returning the embrace. “Avery told me you lot would be getting in today. Glad to see you before I got officially shitfaced for the morning.”

Val giggled and punched his shoulder. Longfellow hissed and rolled out the joint. “Glad to **be** seen before then, too. How’s things?”

“Still shitty, but just a bit less so with you back, Cap,” Longfellow said, dropping a heavy arm over Val’s shoulders. “How’s things down in the south? I see you’re still running with the tinman.”

“Oh yeah. Never gonna get rid of Nick. He’s like a pet now.”

Nick called from nearby, approaching the pair. “My ears might be plastic, but I can _still hear you_ , wiseass.”

Longfellow barked with laughter and let go of Val to shake hands with Nick. “I figured her new fella would have run you out by now, Valentine.”

Even with the best intentions, Longfellow’s oblivious remark sucked the life out of Val. Her smile faded, and she froze in place. Licking her lips, Val struggled to lift her arm, managing to drop her hand on Longfellow’s elbow. “About that…” she murmured. Nick’s eyes were on her, she could feel him watching, refraining from comment.

“That guy, I mentioned… he’s not around, anymore,” Val began. At the sympathetic frown and an offering of his flask, Valkyrie realized she gave Longfellow the wrong impression. “No, thanks, I mean… he’s still alive, last I knew. He just… didn’t want to be a part of…” She paused, choking on the words. Gesturing to herself, Val murmured, “Me.”

Longfellow’s sympathy turned to a scowl, and he pulled Val into his arms again. “Look, Cap, I don’t know this guy, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s a prick. You’ve done a lot for good people around here, and back in your home. I know it.” Letting her go to an arm’s length, Longfellow looked down at her and squeezed her shoulders. “I can hunt bastards, too, you know.”

Val chuckled and wiped at her eyes. “No, it’s okay, Longfellow. I… let him go. I… conveniently left out the part where he’s a Raider…”

“So? I’m soaked with booze half the time and don’t give a shit ‘bout no one but you and yer boy. He don’t want a part of that, he’s a coward and ain’t fit for keelhauling. Better off without him, I say.” Longfellow dropped his hands to the belt of his coat, hefting it to puff himself up more. “You’re a good kid, Skipper.”

“Thanks, Old Man.” Val smiled and rubbed at her nose, trying to shake the mix of emotions hitting her at once. Missing Gage, support from Longfellow, Nick being… _Nick_. “Let’s get to Acadia. I’m sure Shaun’s gonna tackle me, soon as we get in.”

“Better Shaun than DiMA,” Nick joked, following Val and Longfellow off the docks, inland bound. “Might lose something in all those wires and tape.”

As they headed into the fog, Val drew quiet, taking in the familiar scenery with a new appreciation. Sunlight lanced through the trees, illuminating the mists with brilliant stripes. The usual creatures to plague the island kept to the shadows, only giving them a small amount of trouble as they passed.

Even so, Val’s mind was occupied elsewhere, as she went through the motions of defending herself with little concern for the present.

_“Well, ain’t this about the best way to wake up?” Gage stretched out in her – in **their** – bed at the Fizztop, still naked from the night before. He smiled up at Val, as she sat on his thighs, fingers playing over his chest and stomach._

_“Kiss ass.”_

_Gage chuckled and bucked his legs, tossing Val forward and on top of him. “Is that an order?” he rumbled, voice still rough from sleep. Calloused fingers slid over her spine, tracing muscle and scar tissue. “Not like I wouldn’t,” he went on, teasing her with a playful slap on her rear._

_Val squawked and turned bright red at her own embarrassing noise. She made a noise like a “peep” and covered her mouth. Underneath her, Gage shook with laughter. He curled his arms tight around her; Val joined him in laughing, pushing up in his grip to give him a soft kiss._

_Leaning back, Val opened her mouth to speak, losing the words immediately at the look in Gage’s eye. He cradled the side of her face with one hand, running his thumb over the old scar on the right side. His smile was softer, his body relaxed. He looked… content._

_No one ever looked at her that way, as if she were precious to them. Nate called her “beautiful,” but she always thought he said it out of misplaced pity._

_“What?” she asked, biting her bottom lip. “You got a staring problem?”_

_One side of Gage’s mouth quirked up and he chuckled again, low in his chest. “Yeah, I don’t wanna stop.”_

“-I said stop!” Longfellow’s voice cut through the trance of combat and Valkyrie shuddered, blinking up at him. “You with us, Cap’n? You almost shot me.” He had the barrel of her gun in his hand, forcing it upwards with a scowl.

Valkyrie pulled her rifle away, looking up at Longfellow for another long moment before responding. “I… yeah, I’m here.” She looked over to Nick, who gave a slight shake of his head. His brow was furrowed and his lips pulled into a firm line. Valkyrie looked back to Longfellow, and gave him her happiest grimace.

“No, really, I’m fine.”

Longfellow frowned and turned away from her with a grunt. “Whatever you say, but if you tune out like that again, I’m dragging you back to the cabin and you can sleep off this…” Waving his hand at Val’s general state, he grunted, “ _Problem_ of yours.”

Val shouldered her weapon and passed by Longfellow, taking point on the trail. “I’ve already been asleep for two hundred years, Gramps. I don’t think another nap like that’s in the cards.”

Behind her, Longfellow grumbled to Nick, just within her range of hearing. “Whoever that fella was who broke her heart, did he hit her head, too?”

Nick blew out a withering sigh. “It’s a long story, friend. Suffice it to say she had an easier time bringing peace to the _island_ than back home.”

Longfellow coughed out something about “knowing a thing or two about loss,” and Valkyrie could hear him pop the cap off his flask and hiss at the satisfying burn of liquor as she climbed toward Acadia.

 

As always, DiMA greeted them with an unsettling spread of his arms and chilling smile. Valkyrie reasoned it had to be his eyes. The milky white creeped her out more than the glowing gold of Nick’s. Faraday followed, ever the busybody when attending to his treasured leader.

“Welcome, my friends. I hope you journey found you well?” DiMA asked, approaching Valkyrie slowly. “I would have come to the harbor to greet you sooner, but-“

“MOM!” Shaun bolted up the stairs and flung himself at Valkyrie, who knelt to receive him. “I missed you!” He hugged her fiercely, and Val, in turn, lifted him up.

“Man, kid, you’re getting heavy. What’s DiMA been feeding you?”

“Oh, I was supposed to feed him?” DiMA asked, his light tone laced with a soft chuckle. “That explains why he was chewing on the furniture…”

Faraday groaned and rubbed at his forehead. “They’ve been working on that one for _days_.”

Val put Shaun down and stuck her hand out to shake with Faraday. “What can I say? Kid has his mom’s sense of humor. Terrible.”

DiMA opened his mouth and raised a hand, then closed his hands together in front of himself. “He certainly is a remarkable boy,” he said, fixing Valkyrie with a firm stare.

“Yes. He is. A boy.” Val ruffled Shaun’s dark hair and returned DiMA’s look with a taut smile. “My boy.”

“Mom, you’re being weird again.”

Val giggled and reached down to kiss her son’s cheek. “Wait until you’re my age, kiddo. Then you’ll be weird, too.”

DiMA interjected, taking a step forward. “About that-“

Shaun jumped up and down. “Oh, mom, you gotta see what I made… you told me about-“ And Shaun was gone down the stairs again, to where the other Synths resided.

Alone for but a moment, Valkyrie stepped up to DiMA and grabbed his ragged forearm. “You didn’t have ‘the talk’ with him, did you? I already have bad news – I don’t want him to find out what he is yet.”

DiMA shook his head. “I have respected your wishes. However, he did tell me much about the time he spent in the Institute, as well as Father. Father is… truly gone, then?”

“You know he is,” Val whispered, letting DiMA go with a small shove. “He died before the Institute was destroyed. I was there.”

“Mom? You coming down?” Shaun called from the stairwell.

Val waved to him and nodded. “Be right there, kid.” When Shaun took off again, Val leaned back into DiMA’s space. “Has he been good, though? Be honest.”

DiMA lit up with a polite smile and a deep nod of his head. “Yes. Shaun is as spirited a boy as I imagine other human children must be. Were my body in better condition, I’m sure I could have kept up.”

Nick cut in with a laugh. “Might as well designate yourself ‘Grandpa DiMA’ instead of ‘Uncle.’”

Turning slowly to his “brother,” DiMA quipped back, “Would that not make _you_ a ‘Grandpa’ as well?”

Val backed off and raised her hands. “I’m out. You two toasters have catching up to do, and I have a son to grab. You gents talk, or network, or however it is you two process conversation.”

Nick quipped: “Beep, boop, shut the hell up. Go get your kid.”

 

Downstairs, in the area designated “Shaun’s Room,” Valkyrie found her Synth child packing his things. As soon as he saw her, he started talking quickly, telling Val all about the last few months he had spent in DiMA’s care.

Val sat on his bed, half-listening as Shaun chattered on. “-and Captain Avery took me fishing and I lost my pole to a Gulper, so we had to come inland again, so she had me sent back to Acadia and I helped Faraday monitor DiMA’s memory processors. I told him they should streamline to a newer processor for DiMA to plug into, but Faraday reminded me that there isn’t enough tech left here on the surface to upgrade him. So, then Chase and I…” Val had picked up Shaun’s teddy bear, one specially outfitted with plaid and denim to look like the other residents of Far Harbor. She missed when Shaun stopped talking.

“Mr. Brooks gave that to me,” Shaun said, coming to stand in front of his mother. He rubbed the bear’s ear and Val turned it over to him. “I said I was kind of old for teddy bears, but… it’s really nice.”

“It is,” Val agreed. She coughed, her throat suddenly feeling tight. Rubbing her eyes, Valkyrie sniffed and reached her hand out to Shaun. “I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, kiddo.”

Shaun sat on the bed beside her, letting Val hug him to her side. He waited patiently for her to share, and Val had to wonder if the original Shaun had been like this, or if he’d been programmed to simply be a good kid, a better version of the first. The idea made her head spin, and the sick feeling from earlier returned with a new wave of nausea.

“You know how I said I had something important I was doing out in west?”

“Yeah. With the Raiders.”

“…And do you remember me talking to you about this guy I… kind of liked?” Val felt a little silly for putting it in those terms, but at the time, she had no idea of her standing with Gage. She had to simplify it all for Shaun and send him to safety before she had gone back to Nuka World.

Shaun sounded hopeful. “Does he like you back?”

“I thought he did… but… we couldn’t agree on… some things, so I thought it better if he left.”

For a moment, Shaun was quiet, contemplative. When he spoke again, his voice was very soft, a mix of sad and scared. “Did you have to kill him?”

Inhaling sharply, Val shook her head. “No, no, oh no, Shaun… I wouldn’t. I just gave him some money and protection so he could start over. Do… what he wants.” Turning her head, Val took a few deep breaths to calm herself before carrying on. “But, I did manage to work with some of the Raiders, so it wasn’t a total loss.”

Shaun smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Good. I knew you could do it.”

Val’s eyes watered again as she smiled and hugged her boy again, kissing the top of his head. “When did you get so sweet?”

Shrugging, Shaun smiled up at her. “I dunno. Whenever I got big, I guess.”

Laughing, Val kissed Shaun’s cheek and ushered him to his feet. “You’re still getting there, kid. Grab your stuff, we’re staying with Old Longfellow until morning, then we’re headed back to the Commonwealth. Lots of people have missed you, you know.”

“Good, ‘cause I missed them, too.”

 

_“So tell me, Val. Where’d this one come from?” Gage asked, tracing his fingertips along her side. A long scar started near her abdomen and trailed off near the back, just above her kidneys._

_Val lifted Gage’s stolen tank and looked down at the line in her flesh, then pushed the shirt down again. “Knife. Another ‘Psycho’ like me didn’t like me in her territory. She was the ‘infiltrate and eliminate kind.’ Quick, quiet, clean. Usually injections.”_

_“How’d she get so close to_ you, _then?”_

_Turning so she laid her head in his lap, Val looked up at Gage and shrugged. “Intel leak, probably. I think that was Jizo. She hated guns.”_

_“Hope she ain’t still around as a ghoul, then. She’s gonna be disappointed,” Gage snickered. Running a hand over her thigh, he caressed the Molotov scar with a light touch. “What about this one?” he asked, moving his hand to trace one just on the inside of her panties, earning him a swat from Val._

_“Hey. That one’s not a battle scar.” Val frowned and tapped Gage’s eyepatch. “How’d you lose it?”_

_It was Gage’s turn to shrug, and he looked away. “The night Connor double crossed me. Shrapnel caught me upside my head. Left me bloody, half blind… that’s why I get_ pissy _when you try to poke me in the good one.”_

_“Oh, I do not!” Val sat up and climbed into Gage’s lap. “That one time was an accident.” She pulled the patch off and kissed the scars underneath. “Even if you went blind, though, I wouldn’t just toss you, you know. Eyesight don’t stop your brain from working.”_

_Gage’s smile was brief and miserable. “Maybe so, but I like bein’ useful to you, darlin’. Won’t help me none if I just sit around, waiting to hear your voice again. Don’t know if anyone would tell me if something happened, either. Might just conveniently forget about me.”_

_“I won’t.” Val leaned in, kissed him, long, and deep._

_Gage exhaled slowly when they separated again. “What’s that one scar?”_

_Sighing heavily, with a long, drawn out noise of exasperation and groaning, Val slumped over. “You’re not gonna let it go, are you?”_

_“Seems to be the only one that ain’t related to someone tryin’ to end you, baby. So, what is it?”_

_Val’s hand went to her stomach in an unconscious flinch, a phantom pain from a time that might as well have only been a year ago, now. “Shaun. I couldn’t just give birth. I don’t remember the medical jargon, but they had to cut me open, pull him out and sew me back up again. I almost died of infection, anyway...”_

_Gage fell silent. His lips pulled into a taut frown; his fingers drew small circles on her leg. After a few moments thinking about it, Gage grinned at her._

_“Maybe your **next** time will be better.”_

_Val’s eyes went wide and she grabbed him by the ears, twisting to his yelps of protest. “Are you gonna try to knock me up, Porter Gage? I’ll kick your ass!”_

_Gage laughed and pulled her hands off his ears, rubbing the soreness away. “I ain’t **tryin’** to knock you up… it just…” Gage rubbed at his face and looked away. He cleared his throat, and Val sat up on the couch beside him. “The thought had occurred to me… if this lasts, between us...”_

_Unable to help herself, Val practically cooed at Gage thinking of them having a life together. Something she wanted to flee before the war, seemed like what she wanted **now**. Leaning in to kiss him, Val felt on top of the world. She pulled Gage close, arms around his shoulders._

_Then she felt his hand close around her neck. Val gagged, pulling at Gage’s wrist. Gage stood, pulling her from the couch by her throat._

_“You shouldn’t have trusted me. You don’t **get** to have a life,” Gage said, but the voice was wrong. Val struggled and kicked, trying to breathe. Gage sounded exactly like Kellogg, as he thrust her out over the empty frame to Fizztop’s lift. “You get nothing,” Gage said, no longer Gage, but _ Father _, holding her out over the edge. “You lose.”_

_He let her go._

Val woke with a jolt, someone shaking her. She saw gold lights in her face and lashed out, striking Nick with the side of Deliverer, which had been under her pillow.

“Whoa, whoa, kid, take it easy,” Nick said, pushing Val’s gun away from his face. Blood ran down her wrist, where she had caught herself on the exposed metal of his head. “You were dreaming.” He pulled her into a sitting position in her sleeping bag, and wrapped his arms around her.

Panting and shaking, Val jumped when Longfellow entered the room, his shotgun at the ready. Shaun sat on his bed against the wall, hugging his teddy bear. Val looked at her son, staring at him with wide eyes.

“Mom?”

“The hell happened?” Longfellow demanded, lowering his gun.

Nick loosened his grip and sat back on his heels. He pried Val’s gun free of her hands and disarmed it, setting the weapon and clip aside. He kept his gaze on her, and Val lowered her head. She rubbed her thumb over the cut on her wrist, hissing when the pain finally registered.

“Nightmare,” Nick said, not needing to guess. “Longfellow, you got some bandages?” he asked, cupping her hands in his. Val yanked one hand free and pointed it toward Shaun.

“Please,” she murmured. Shaun crawled out of his bed and onto her sleeping bag, curling up in her lap. Nick embraced them both for a minute, and then got to his feet. Val cradled Shaun in her lap, keeping her injured arm away from him. “I’m sorry I scared you, sweetheart.”

Shaun tucked his head under Val’s chin, holding onto her. “You’re the toughest woman in the world, Mom. If something scares you, I know you can handle it.”

Val tried to laugh, but it came out more of a soft whimper. “I’m tough because of you, you know.”

“I know.”

Nick leaned against the doorframe, keeping an eye on the both of them. Longfellow came back from fumbling in the other room, what he had for medical supplies in hand. He sat on the bed near Val and Shaun, his kit placed beside him.

“Gimme yer arm,” he grumbled, taking her hand in his when she held it out to him. “You don’t gotta tell me what that was all about. I know shit dreams when I see the cold sweat myself. And as much as I don’t care for your tinman friend, clocking him upside the head seems like a little much.”

“I just startled her. Not like I’ve got nerve endings. Might have to get my servos aligned, though.” Nick seemed unbothered by the whole ordeal, except he kept watching Valkyrie.

Val frowned and pulled her hand away when Longfellow finished wrapping her arm. “I’m still sorry about it. I just want to go home, with Shaun.”

Nick moved off the wall, his hands in his pockets. Watching her, Nick crouched near her and Shaun again, quiet enough that Val could actually hear his internal systems running.

“You want me to tell Preston you need a break?”

Val nodded, relieved that Nick knew her well enough to read. “I’m gonna head back to Sanctuary with Shaun, when we get back. I’ve got some thinking to do.”

Nick nodded and stood up again. “Preston will understand. If he doesn’t, he’s got some soul searching to do on his own.”

Longfellow rumbled, shaking out his shoulders. “Or, you could stay up here. I’m sure those folks at Arcadia are sorry to see your kid go,” he huffed, not making eye contact. Val smiled and reached out, taking the old man’s hand.

“Thanks, Gramps, but I still have work to do.”

 

The next morning, Val, Shaun and Nick boarded the Nakano’s boat, heading back to the Commonwealth.


	2. General Issue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since Valkyrie changed things between Nuka World and the Commonwealth. When she gets a call to action from Radio Freedom, she rushes out to Tenpines with an unusual companion. She also gets a nasty surprise upon arrival.

_“You’re listening to Radio Freedom, voice of the Commonwealth. It’s just after noon, and all’s quiet. Stay safe out there, folks.”_

Valkyrie lifted Shaun on her shoulders, standing in the knee-deep river just outside of Sanctuary while her boy looked at an industrial pump. Running harder in the summertime, the pump had started to make a funny noise and dredged up silt with it. However, between Shaun and Sturges, the pair had maintenance covered.

Sturges stood beside Val, holding up a light so Shaun could see into the small compartment.

“Y’think it’s somethin’ to do with the filter?” Sturges was saying, giving the purifier a sound tap. “I just replaced those a month ago.”

“Maybe. We might have to take it apart and see,” Shaun replied, handing back the light. “My favorite!”

Val chuckled and lowered Shaun to the safety of a rock just near the riverbank. “I’ll put in a request for parts with Carla when she gets back from Diamond City,” she said, following her son to dry land. “You didn’t sabotage this just so you could tinker with it, did you?”

Shaun gasped and threw his hands up. “No way! I know better.”

Smiling, Val lifted Shaun up and tucked him under her arm like luggage to his giggles. She carried him like that up the riverbank until they got near the jungle gym, where she let him onto his feet.

“You’d better, or you’re so grounded,” she said, changing course while Shaun started climbing the old metal frame. She waited until he was safely perched at the top, and then headed back to the main road to meet Sturges.

Sturges lumbered up, burdened with the weight of the tools he had carried up alone. “Y’know, Val, maybe I should head to the Market myself, because I can talk to Myrna. She gives me a good deal.”

“It’s because she thinks you’re hot.” Val playfully punched Sturges in the shoulder before taking half the tools from him and relieving his burden. “You’re her kind of manimal.”

“Manimal? Must be why my ears were burning.”

Val and Sturges both turned around, greeted by the sight of none other than the Pack’s Alpha himself, Mason. He swaggered into Sanctuary with a sledge across his shoulders, showing off. Val and Sturges shared a roll of their eyes and carried on into the settlement. Val could hear Mason clomping behind, as casual as ever.

“Talkin’ about Sturges, not you, Mace. How’s the caravan been?” Val asked, not taking Mason’s bait. He still relished in flattery, even as he’d been working with her for almost six months now. She figured he’d never shake the superiority complex and act humble for once. Suited her just fine, all the same. He could play tough guy all he liked.

Mason sighed, long and loud, as if put upon by her question. “It’s fine. Chased off a pack of Deathclaws myself. They roared at us, and I roared right back. Course, I was the only one standing my ground, boss. You gotta start bringin’ on more of my guys onto these caravans of yours if they’re gonna leave me to be the muscle…”

Val started to laugh at Mason’s complaints when a shout from the cul-de-sac cut her off.

“Uncle Mason!” Shaun went running back along the main drag and ran up to the Alpha. Val flinched at the nickname, anointed by Mason himself and held onto tight by her son. He hugged the ex-Raider’s hip, staying clear of the sledge as Mason dropped it to pick the boy up.

“How’s my favorite pack-cub doin’?” Mason asked, throwing Shaun up on his shoulder, just because he _could_.

Val stopped by her new shack, letting Shaun talk Mason’s painted ear off. Their relationship started off as strange to her, not because of the kinship between a man and a boy, but because Mason seemed to genuinely _like_ kids. As long as he didn’t try to start his own “litter” with her, and Shaun was happy, Val let it be. Few people knew he was a Synth, but his intelligence made friendship with other kids almost as difficult.

It made her grateful to have Sturges around, too. Mason wasn’t exactly a role model; Sturges balanced out Mason’s bombastic persona.

Changing out of her work jeans, Val nearly jumped out of her skin as Mason banged on her front door.

“Hey, boss, radio transmission comin’ in. Time to go play shepherd,” he called, wise enough to not come barging in. Trying it once, Val had tackled him in the middle of Sanctuary and scrubbed his war paint off in front of everyone as punishment. She had only been in her underwear, yet Mason had been burning red for days after for running from a nearly naked Val.

 Redressed, Val headed over to the main house, tuning to Radio Freedom on her Pip-boy.

_“…any Minutemen in the area of Tenpines Bluff, please head that way immediately. Brotherhood Vertibird spotted nearby. General, if you’re listening, please advise.”_

Val stopped inside the house and picked up the CB. Mama Murphy watched from her armchair, saying nothing as she worked on some sewing. Val cleared her throat and responded.

“This is General Valkyrie. I’m heading to Tenpines. Any Minutemen in the area, keep to your posts. I’ll handle this,” Val said, putting the transmitter down.

Mama Murphy cleared her throat, turning her attention up from an article of someone’s clothing she was repairing. “You’re going to see an old face in a new light,” she said quietly. “You’re not gonna like it, dear.”

“I thought The Sight took a hike,” Val snapped. “Brotherhood probably trying to bully more crops from the locals. I told them they can set up a trade, but Proctor Teagan’s too fond of being a dickhead.”

“Sounds like my kinda guy,” said Mason, hanging out in the doorway. “Want me with, Boss? Been a while since I smashed a few faces. Taking down a few tin cans sounds like a great workout.”

Val looked skyward and closed her eyes. “You can come, but reserve the smashing until I give the order, okay? Some of them are pretty heavily armed.”

Mason’s grin only brightened. “Ooh, daddy likes a challenge.”

“For the love of God...” Val covered her stomach and groaned. “You’re making me nauseous.”

Mason continued to smirk and strutted outside again. Val met up with him on the main road and they struck out. Mason gave Shaun a salute as they passed through the Sanctuary gate.

 

An hour out, Mason dropped his sledge and leaned on the handle, lighting a cigar. Val paused for a sip of water, pulling her tricorner hat down to block the midday sun from her eyes. The heat had gotten treacherous on the asphalt, causing them to cut through fields instead of sticking to the roadways.

“Okay, I’m just gonna ask,” Mason said, waiting for Val’s attention before forging on. “You still hung up on Gage?”

Val ran a hand down her face and groaned. “Why would I be? He’s left the Commonwealth. No one’s seen him since he left Goodneighbor.”

“The fact that you know where he’s been is more than a little unsettling, and that’s comin’ from me, Boss.” Mason blew out a cloud of smoke and continued. “I know you got hands in everybody’s business around the ‘Wealth, so it makes me wonder why you ain’t moved on. He was a sack of shit, anyway.”

“Yet, you all listened to him,” Val snapped. “You let Colter take command on Gage’s suggestion.”

“Fuck off. He’s smart, but he ain’t got balls to lead. S’why he got you to be Overboss in the first place.”

“I chose to take the position.”

“You choose a lot of things.” Mason gestured with his cigar, embers flying off in her direction. “Like, choosin’ to spare me and mine. You could have just offed the whole Pack.”

Val groaned and started walking again. “Not this discussion… I gave _you_ a choice, and you made the call to stand down. Now, look at you. Actually doing something other than sitting on your ass.”

Mason caught up and bumped his shoulder into hers, giving her a quick glance before resuming watch for animals and beasts that might be drawn to the noise they were making.

“Don’t get me wrong, busting skulls for caps is well and good, but there’s still a bit of this ‘employment’ shit that rubs me wrong. You burnin’ your candle at both ends-“

Val choked on a laugh. “Are you telling me you’re _worried_ about me, Mason?”

“As far as your abilities go, yeah.” Mason turned and stopped short in front of Val, causing her to walk straight into him. He caught her before she bounced too far off and held onto her arm. “If you’re out here without your head on straight, you’re gonna get killed. I just wanna know when I gotta pack my gang up if you’re just gonna roll over.”

“Aww, you _are_ worried about me.”

Mason groaned and turned around. “Shoulda’ just gone back with the caravan. At least the Brahmin’s bullshit is genuine.”

Val slugged him in the shoulder from behind. “That was awful.”

Glaring down at her, Mason frowned as he worked out the gag in his head. “Christ, boss, I did not mean that.”

“You still said it.”

“And you’re still dodging questions. If you’re not gonna be a leader, we’re outta here. The Pack came on as part of the agreement with _you_ , not the rest of the Commonwealth. We’ll play sheepdogs to your little flock… for now,” Mason promised, sparing her a quick glance.

Val glared back at him. “I can still put you down.”

“You gotta be **alive** for that, boss. I’m just sayin’: you get yourself killed, everything’s gonna break apart. Don’t know why you bother with this balancing act. Shit’s gonna come crashing down sooner than you think.”

Nudging him with her elbow, Val shifted focus to what Mason was saying. “You hear something out there? Gunners trying to regroup?”

“Nah, just the same assholes we’re going to go meet. They’ve been the ones harassing the caravans, wanting traders to work for’em. You know how I feel about people touching my shit. So, I rearranged a few faces and left one little bitch alive to go tell his superiors to fuck off. Obviously, the message ain’t clear enough for ‘em.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Val felt a headache coming on. She paused again to drink from her water ration, wondering what it was the Brotherhood was aiming for with their turnaround. Gage’s voice dredged itself up from the back of her mind.

_“Brotherhood ain’t much more than a bunch’a Raiders with a misplaced sense of legitimacy.”_

“He was right about that,” Val muttered to herself.

Mason paused to stub out his cigar, saving half for later. “What’s that?”

Val’s mouth dropped open and she shook her head slowly. “Didn’t mean to say it aloud, but…” she paused when a fallen tree blocked their path through a rocky crevasse. Repeating what Gage had said, she looked over the tree for a route around it. “I think he’s got it half right. They think they’re doing right, so long as people don’t _abuse_ technology again, throw us right back into another war, but… Maxson… he’s trying to bring it here anyway.”

“They showed up because of the Institute, yeah?” Mason asked, scaling the fallen tree as if it were nothing. “But you didn’t give’em the satisfaction.”

“More or less…” Val followed suit over the log, hauling herself up and over to the other side next to Mason. “Then, they just pissed me off. Only a couple of them, and the handful of squires they got on board, are why I haven’t blasted that bird.”

“Fuck’em anyway,” Mason shouldered his sledge again as they continued on. “They ain’t gonna be so nice to us when they decide we’re too much of a threat. They’re gonna want to assert their dominance and probably wipe a few settlements off the map in the process. Don’t tell me it ain’t occurred to you.”

Val gritted her teeth and hissed. Mason was absolutely right. The Brotherhood had no reason to stay other than to take control of the Commonwealth. Kill off any ghouls, Synths, and their sympathizers. She stopped walking and slumped against an outcropping of rock. Putting her head in her hands, Val felt numb and lightheaded. Worse yet, she felt alone. Everyone had their grievances about the shaky truce with the Brotherhood. And they were right.

“Dammit, I do miss him,” Val said. “I tried to keep the peace with Raider and Commonwealth…” She looked up when she felt Mason brush her shoulder as he leaned in beside her. “That fucking backfired.”

“Eh, kinda.”

“Kinda?” Val lifted her head, staring at Mason until her vision focused. “That’s an understatement. I fucking ruined a lot of shit, uprooted settlers from their homes to stretch out the Disciples, but I still had the Pack and the Operators to deal with-“

“And you dealt with us,” Mason interrupted. “I’m not saying I’m fucking _happy_ with this arrangement, but you know… parasites like us can be… what’s the word… like partnership, but…” Mason bridged his fingers together like a spiked fence. “Connected.”

“Symbiotic?”

Mason snapped his fingers and nodded. “That’s it. Symbiotic.” He looked pleased with his analogy, so much so, that Valkyrie had to chuckle.

“…Like dogs and their masters.”

“More on the ‘wild’ side, but you get my point. We help you, you help us, blah, blah, blah, circle of life and all that shit.”

Valkyrie laughed again, feeling the knot in her stomach loosen, even if it still made her dizzy to think too hard on what lay ahead. “You got it all figured out, huh?”

Shrugging, Mason stood up again, hauling Val to her feet with him. “Course I do. I ain’t the Alpha for being a dumbass.”

Grinning, Val reached up and patted his head. “Yes, Mason, you’re a good boy.”

“Bite me, boss.” He jerked his head away and took point. “Now, am I done playing Gage? Or you want me to kiss some other booboos for ya?”

Val’s smile weakened, and she sighed. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Seriously. I have a reputation to keep.”

 

They reached Tenpines by dark, which had been unavoidable. Upon reaching the hill just overlooking the settlement, Val and Mason hunkered down in the tall grass, watching the light from a power armor headlamp sweep over the farm as a Knight overlooked a couple of lower ranks gathering vegetables.

Val unshouldered her rifle and checked through the scope, moving slowly to avoid attracting attention. She couldn’t see the settler couple that lived there, but could make out some of the Pack members who had been assigned as guard dogs – all of three of them were on their knees, arms bound behind their backs, heads down with another Brotherhood member keeping a gun on them.

Mason growled low in his throat, catching the sight when the armored Knight moved closer to the captive Pack members.

“Shh,” Val hissed. “I see them, too. I don’t want to start a fight, here. It won’t end well for us,” she whispered. “The Knight in armor has a minigun.”

Keeping low, Mason huffed and breathed deep through his nose, trying his best to keep calm. Val couldn’t blame him. Taking prisoners like that wasn’t out of line for the Brotherhood, but having them lined up like they could be executed any minute was a new low.

From the house, a figure strolled out. A scribe popped up from his place in the garden and saluted. Where they were, Val could not hear the conversation, but it seemed everyone deferred to whoever it was in charge.

“We got a plan, Boss?” Mason hissed, starting to shift in the dirt. He was itching to fight, win the freedom of his gang members, or die trying.

“I’m thinking. Just…” Val paused when the Knight addressed the leader, his headlamp shining in their direction. “Shit!”

“WE GOT HOSTILES!” Shouted the Knight, pointing his minigun at the ridge. Val only had a moment to guess that his lamp must have reflected her scope.

Val pushed Mason into the grass and got to her feet, hissing for him to keep his place. Putting her hands up in the air, Val slowly worked her way down the hillside. The Knight kept his light trained on her, making it hard for her to see where she was going with it in her eyes.

“I’m General Valkyrie of the Commonwealth Minutemen. Former Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel,” she said, keeping her voice loud, but calm despite the face she could be gunned down any second. “I was alerted to your presence here and wish to know _what the fuck_ you think you’re doing to my settlers.”

“Traitor!” the Knight barked, and the sound of the minigun spinning up made Valkyrie shut her eyes, waiting for him to mow her down out of spite.

“Stand down, Knight.”

“But, sir, she betrayed-“

“You defyin’ orders, Knight?”

“N-no. No, sir.”

The minigun revved down; Val kept her eyes shut. _This can’t be real,_ she thought, tensing up as she could hear someone approaching her, getting close enough for her to feel his presence. Val swallowed and peeked an eye open.

“Never thought you were one to flinch, Valkyrie,” drawled a familiar voice. “Good to know you’re still just _fulla_ surprises.”

The smugness in his tone was not missed by Val. She opened both eyes to see Gage standing before her, and the sight made her heart seize up. Drawing in a sharp breath, she took him in all at once; Arms behind his back, Gage wore a Brotherhood flight suit under a bomber jacket, and an eyepatch made of leather and steel streamlined to the curve of his face, faintly etched with the Brotherhood’s logo, to as if to mark him _theirs_. He was clean-shaven and his hair cut in a close crop to his head instead of a Mohawk again.

Val opened her mouth to speak, only letting out a soft croak. She shut her mouth again with a click of her teeth.

“Supposin’ you want an explanation,” Gage carried on, absent of Val’s protests. He shrugged. “Supposin’ I don’t give a shit to give you one, but I will say this. They _do_ have some nice gear.” He ran a hand over the fur lapel of his jacket as he smiled down at her, but it felt so cold to receive.

“Warden Gage, sir, we have all we need.” The scribe approached with a salute. “What about the settlers?”

Nodding in Val’s direction, Gage spoke as if she weren’t even there. “If the General has nothing to say about our occupation, maybe hoist the colors, let’em all know The Brotherhood own this place now.”

“No.” Val shook herself from her stupor and shoved at Gage. Despite hearing guns being cocked around her, she shoved him again. Gage moved with the stumble, just grinning at her, as if he’d won some sort of prize for being an asshole. “You don’t get to just _claim_ this. The Minutemen-“

“Were really fucking late getting here, weren’t you? The settlers already agreed to let the Brotherhood stake a claim here. They can actually keep these people safe… something about the General slacking in her duties, lately?” Gage turned toward the other Brotherhood members who stood around, all glaring at Val. Even without an answer, Gage folded his arms behind his back again, striding closer.

Leaning into her space, Gage kept his voice low, but his tone dripped with venom. Val trembled with rage, caught between wanting to put his lights out, grabbing him, and shaking him until he came to his senses. After she gave him a fresh start, he had chosen _this…_

“How you been, huh? Keepin’ busy? Find another fool to listen to your sob stories?” Gage put a hand on her shoulder, and she shrugged him off to a smug chortle. “Glad to know you’re not _entirely_ passive, Val. Still got a little fire in you. I like that.”

Val pushed herself up into his space, taking him by the lapels of his jacket and shoved him into the dirt outcropping where Mason still hid. Brotherhood yelled at her for “attacking” him, but Gage just raised his hand to stop them, still laughing at her.

“What’s in this for you, huh? Teagan pay well? Got all the nice gear? Is it worth being silenced while you got Elder Maxson’s dick down your throat? I bet it tastes like whiskey and shame.”

Someone nearby stifled a laugh; Gage continued with his oily smile. “You jealous, Val?”

“Not gonna be jealous of you hooking up with a delusional prick,” Val snapped, leaning in close to him. “Does he know?” she hissed, close enough to bite his nose clean off.

“Bout us? Oh yeah. Let him know I really hate your guts,” Gage said, grunting as she thumped him against the dirt wall again. Debris shook loose and fell around his head and shoulders. “Told’im I’d like to see’em on your outsides,” he murmured, much softer. Gage gave her mouth a quick glance as he licked his own lips.

Val squinted at him, watching his face for a moment before replying. “I like my guts on the inside. You know… organ-ized.” Her hands shook in the lapels of his coat before she loosened her grip.

A flash of recognition had Gage’s eye widening for a split second before it was gone again, and the modest smile he flashed melted into something slimier and bone chilling. He shoved her off and Val let go, backing away from him with disgust while he shook off the dirt around his neck.

The settlement’s couple came out from their house, husband and wife both concerned. Val could understand; one wrong outburst and people would die - the pair of them included. She turned to the settlers and shook her head.

“You’re making a mistake, letting the Brotherhood make camp here. They’re not gonna offer you a fair shake, you know.”

The wife stepped forward, pointing at Val. “As if you’ve been so helpful! You were gone for months, then you come back with these… _Raiders_ , and want us to take them in.”

One of the Raiders, with black circles painted around his eyes, piped up: “You said we were a colorful bunch!” before the guard smacked the Pack member with the butt of her gun.

“Quiet, scumbag!”

The wife continued. “I’m sorry, General, but… we’re sticking with the Brotherhood now. Take your wild dogs and _go_.”

Val stood there, speechless. Misery and guilt churned in her gut and made her feel woozy. Numb, she strolled over to the prisoners and helped them to their feet. She untied their hands and murmured reassurances to them that they would be all right.

“Assholes!” shouted one, wearing a jaguar headdress. “You lied to us! We treated you like family and this is the thanks we get?”

Val grabbed her arm and tried to restrain her. “Please, don’t-“

“No, boss, they fuckin’ know we took good care of them, and they just chicken shit out because we’re fuckin’ Raiders, and they want these fucks who act all high and mighty an’ shit!” the jaguar raider screamed. “They’re no better than the fuckin’ Disciples, man!”

“Just, go, please,” the husband begged, looking to Val for support.

“C’mon, let’s just-“ Val started, but the jaguar raider broke free and charged the couple. A laser gun went off, and the Pack member hit the dirt, dead, in the middle of the settlement. The husband hid his wife’s face against his shoulder, and she sobbed against him.

Val stared at the body, shocked that a Brotherhood member would just off a _human_ without warning. She glanced toward Gage; his mouth was clenched shut tight enough that she could see the muscle twitch in his jaw. The Knight-Aspirant who had fired just pulled his gun back and spat in the raider’s direction, as if he’d taken down a charging feral ghoul.

“Take your dead and go,” Gage muttered, breaking the moment of silence.

Mason finally appeared from his hiding spot and stalked down to the middle of the group, gingerly picking up the jaguar-masked Raider. He glared death into the couple, who backed away from him in fear. He cradled his fallen Pack member against his chest; blood dripped from her wound and into his shirt.

“You fucking cowards,” Mason hissed, carrying the body back up the hill. “Someone get my sledge. I’m outta here, Boss. I stay any longer, this place will be a graveyard before I go down.”

Val ushered the other two Raiders up the hill, glancing back over her shoulder toward Gage. His smug look had vanished, replaced with a deep frown. She looked away from him first, making sure the other Raiders got up the hill.

 

Val, Mason, and the other Pack members – which Val learned were named “Tweez” and “Panda” – buried the fallen Raider in the middle of a field. They dug out the hole with just their hands, taking hours to make a space large enough for Jag, the deceased, to fit and not be bothered by scavenger animals. Mason hauled fallen branches and rocks to cover the burial site, with her mask passed onto Panda.

Sitting off to the side, Valkyrie just stayed quiet while Mason led the other two in mourning howls, barking, shouting, and making all sorts of noise to let out the pain of loss. Wild dogs brayed in the distance, and for a moment, Val wondered if the Pack had learned from them. They encouraged Val to join them, but she declined, instead keeping watch for things that might be drawn to the noise.

Around a late campfire, Tweez and Panda reminisced with their Alpha, talking about good times had with Jag. They split their rations and chems while Valkyrie circled the camp with her rifle drawn, giving them space. It wasn’t until Tweez and Panda fell asleep on each other that Mason broke away from the pair and approached the stump Val held watch from.

“You’re gonna say this is my fault,” she started, before Mason said anything. “I made your Pack play guard dogs and one got put down. Because I let Gage go free.”

Mason crouched in the dirt beside her and looked out across the field. “You done beatin’ yourself up, yet? Should I come back in an hour?”

Val turned her head his direction and frowned. “I thought-“

“People die every day, Boss. Jag’s dead. It’s done.” He picked at pebbles and tossed them down the hill, watching them shatter on a larger rock near the bottom.

Looking away again, Val hung her head. “You guys were pretty into your… howling.”

Mason snorted and rolled his shoulders. “Dunno if you noticed, but we do that a lot. Lets’em get out all the energy, wring out some hurt before it eats’em alive. Might do you some good, if you’re gonna sit here feeling sorry for yourself.”

“Gage-“

“Made his choice. Ain’t that, like, your thing? Giving people choices?” Mason stood again and rolled his head and shoulders around, cracking his joints. “He decided he’d rather be with those assholes. Can’t say I’m not a little curious about what kinda gear they gave him, but not enough to play bitch to some asshole in a balloon.” Mason lit the remains of his cigar and puffed on it, sending curls of blue smoke into the night air.

Valkyrie snorted and lowered her rifle to her lap. “Basically how I feel about Maxson. There’s being protective, and then there’s paving the path to hell with your ‘good’ intentions.”

“You talkin’ about him or you, boss?” Mason didn’t turn his head, but she could feel his eyes on her. Ash flicked from the end of his cigar onto the ground, singing some dried grass before he kicked dirt over it.

“Maybe both.” Valkyrie got to her feet and stretched, popping her spine. “I don’t know if I’m over him, to answer your earlier question.” She shouldered her rifle, releasing an exhausted sigh. “He’s under my skin.”

Mason huffed and rolled his eyes. “I got that. He should’ve been paste the second you got a look at him.” Pausing, Mason spoke a bit softer when he started again, his coarse voice almost inaudible. “Tough, losin’ a mate. Harder still, when they just up and fucking run from you.” Mason threw his sledge up on his shoulder and stared off; Val looked up at him, studying his face. His drawn silence and avoidance of eye contact said plenty. She felt a new understanding wash over her, and she gave Mason a light tap on the shoulder.

Chuckling, Mason turned away from her and ground out the stub of his cigar under his boot. “Get some rest, boss. I’ll take watch.”

Leaving it at that, Valkyrie headed over to where Tweez and Panda leaned against each other, Jag’s mask lying in Panda’s lap. Removing her equipment, Val leaned against the log beside them. Tweez shifted when he felt an extra presence, twisting in her direction. Val snickered quietly and let the scrawny guy curl against her, a hand draped on his bony shoulder. The quick build of warmth lulled her into a dreamless sleep while Mason kept guard over them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


	3. Diplomacy +3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val reflects/discusses courses of action as General of the Minutemen; ends up needing a doctor and gets some news that complicates things.

_“Are you sure about this, General? What if we just took the Minutemen and-“_

_“No, there’s too many. The Gangs might hate each other, but they’ll fight together if it means keeping what’s theirs. Gage says the place is a powder keg, though, so it’s just a matter of division…”_

_Preston looked up from the table, where a replica of the Nuka World map lay between them. Studying Val’s face, he folded his hands in front of his mouth, thinking. Val waited for him to say something, to object, or-_

_“Do you really trust this Gage person? He’s a Raider, too.”_

_Or **that**. Val had gone into this meeting expecting doubts, especially from Ronnie Shaw, but she had hoped Preston had better faith in her by now._

_Val leaned back in her chair, tilting it back on two legs. “He hasn’t given me much reason not to. Aside from how I got into the park, he’s had my back.” She glanced over to Ronnie, who had been eyeballing her the entire meeting._

_“You got an opinion, Shaw? Just say it,” Val snapped, uncomfortable with the older woman’s scrutiny. Shaw reminded her too much of her old handler, Angel._

_Ronnie had removed her beret and now ran gnarled fingers through silver hair. “I don’t care what you think of the Raider, what I wanna know is, what are these gangs like?”_

_Valkyrie sighed and dropped her chair back to the floor with a clack. She tapped the icon over The Parlor, first._

_“I’ll tell you. The Operators are spoiled brats. Probably great grandkids of the rich and powerful from before the war. Entitled little shits who kill to get what they want. They’re children with guns who don’t like sharing.”_

_Dragging her finger across the map, she landed on The Pack’s Amphitheater. “The Pack is probably the most like other gangs around the ‘Wealth. They like to party, take chems… self-destructive nihilists who found each other. They actually_ like _me. At least their leader does.”_

_Preston moved his hands to the arms of his chair, drumming them in an attempt to reserve judgment. “How do you know that?”_

_“He gave me a gun,” Val replied, a flat smile on her face. “They like shows of power, and I showed. He might be easier to win over if he gives a shit about his people.” Val stood and reached over to point at Fizztop Mountain, and the icon for The Disciples. “Which brings me to these assholes.”_

_Pausing for effect, Ronnie, Preston and the couple other Minutemen higher ups around the table waited for her to carry on. Valkyrie smirked, glad they knew to give her a moment before continuing._

_“They’re the most dangerous. They like blood, pain, torture, death. The whole shebang,” Val said, picking up a charcoal stub and circling their mountain. “I don’t like the leader, she doesn’t like me or Gage. They’re sadists, straight up. Money will just get them bigger and sharper knives. Chems and booze don’t slow them down.” Standing upright, she folded her arms across her chest. “Of all the gangs, they need to go. They don’t care for material things, just how much pain they can cause a person before they die.”_

_Val nearly felt the air being sucked from the room as everyone realized what they would be dealing with. Preston cleared his throat and sat forward, looking up at Val._

_“What do you need us to do, General?”_

_“You’re not gonna like it,” Val replied._

_“I trust you.”_

_“They want in on the Commonwealth.”_

_Angry muttering and some shouting broke out among the assembled leaders, save for Val, Ronnie and Preston. Ronnie got to her feet and slammed both hands on the table._

_“Will you cool it?!” When the room quieted, Ronnie continued. “What is it you need from us, General?”_

_“We’re gonna need a couple of settlements to give up their land for a while.” To more snarls and hisses of discontent, Val raised her hands to get the room under control again. “I don’t like it, either, but if they get spread out, we can take down the smaller groups and whittle away at the Disciples first.”_

_Ronnie turned on her as if she’d suggested a second Great War. “Are you nuts? You just told us they’re the most bloodthirsty of them all, and now you wanna bring’em HERE?!”_

_“If they’re allowed to stay in Nuka World, they can double back, surround us. Their number one rule is: don’t get caught.” Val sat in her seat again, looking up at Ronnie. “They’re sneaky, and we won’t be able to handle them all on their home turf. The best we can do is spread them out, have our forces reclaim territories once they’re cut off.”_

_Ronnie dropped back in her seat and propped her head up with one hand, covering her mouth. Preston leaned forward and looked right into Val’s eyes. Bracing herself, Valkyrie waited for his verdict._

_“I’ve got your back, General.”_

 

“General? Valkyrie?”

Preston’s voice cut through the fog and Valkyrie looked up from the table in the Castle’s war room. She took a deep breath and rubbed at her face.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I’ve just been… out of it.”

Preston frowned, but didn’t call her on the lie. Instead, he carried on with their current issue: The Brotherhood of Steel. “They’ve taken command of Tenpines, now, but word is they’ve also put Nordhagen, Croup Manor and Kingsport Lighthouse under their…” Preston raised his hands to bracket his words with air quotes. “Jurisdiction.”

“It makes Tenpines an anomaly,” Ronnie interrupted. “It’s not along the coast, it’s not even on a main route. It’s really out of the way for-“

“It’s because of me,” Val muttered, cutting in. “Tenpines is one of four settlements closest to Sanctuary, one that you can easily reach by foot in a matter of hours. Sanctuary is _minutes_ away by Vertibird. It’s an intimidation tactic. Tenpines is small, barely a place to call home, tactically pointless to take over unless it’s to make a statement.”

Ronnie groaned. “Which means?”

“’Look what we can take from you.’ The Brotherhood is pissed off, and I wouldn’t put it beyond Maxson to have taken on Gage just to fuck with me.”

Preston sighed and shook his head. “Val, he’s just found another group to work with. He’s still a Raider, he’s just in a gang with bigger guns now.”

Val scowled at him and leaned forward on the table. “I think there’s more at play, here.”

“Just because you’re still hung up on him-“ Preston started.

“Don’t. Just, don’t.” Val got up from her seat, pushing it in. “The Brotherhood is a problem as long as they’re here. Maybe they are pissed that I took out the Institute without them, or they think we’re gonna dig up all that hidden tech without them, but—I…” Val gripped her chair, suddenly unsteady on her feet. Preston and Ronnie both got up to help her, but she shoved them off and left the room.

Barely into the hallway, Val fell onto her knees and groaned, clutching at her stomach. Preston was at her side, rubbing her back. She clutched at his arm, at least until the sensation of the world spinning passed. He helped Val to his feet, and she held onto his arms until she was stable again.

“Val, you really should get to Vault 81. You’ve been ‘sick’ for a real long time,” Preston said, keeping her steady on her feet. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

“It hadn’t been this bad,” Val muttered, rubbing sweat off her forehead. “Denial’s a helluva thing, isn’t it?”

Grumbling in displeasure, Preston nodded. “Yeah, it really is. You should have been seen weeks ago.” Lowering his voice, Preston pulled Val away from the door, in case Ronnie was listening. “You shouldn’t have been _active,_ either, Valkyrie.”

“Fuck off, I’m not delicate. I can-“

“You can only handle so much. I don’t know if it’s just a death wish you’ve got or something to prove, General, but you need to slow down. Something bad’s gonna happen, and I just… I can’t just sit by and watch,” Preston said.

Valkyrie pushed out of Preston’s grip and stood on her own, holding her hands out until she was certain she wouldn’t fall over again. “Look, I know… and I’m grateful, I just…I made a choice to be here…”

“Well, it’s time to choose yourself. We can handle the Brotherhood.” Preston pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “We wouldn’t even be here without you. I don’t know what would happen if we lost you.”

Val clapped her hand against Preston’s back, holding onto him just as firmly. “So you’ve said. I still think you’re more fit to lead. I’m just a freak with a gun.”

Preston stood back a bit and smiled to her. “Yeah, but you’re a freak with a good heart. That’s what the Commonwealth needs. Now, I’m gonna get the Vertibird pilot and you’re going to Vault 81.”

Val groaned and ran her hands down her face. “Man, you suck. I can walk.”

Chuckling, Preston tipped his hat back on his head. “You walk and you’ll never go.”

“You _really_ suck, Preston.”

“Only because I care about you.”

Val snorted. “Yeah, yeah…”

 

“So, what’s the verdict, Doc? Am I gonna make it? Will I ever play piano again?” Val asked, lying back on the examination table at Vault 81. She was nervous, even with Preston waiting outside and Curie working in the Vault to improve her medical research. She had an awful sense of what the results might be, so much so that her knuckles turned white as she gripped the plastic sheet cover.

Dr. Forsythe turned toward Curie, showing her the data from the tests they had been running. Curie murmured something softly, and the way she kept looking at Val had her squirming on the table.

“I think another test is in order, Madame, if you would allow it. It is… different than what we have done before.”

Val shrugged, releasing her grip to drum her fingers on the table. “Well, everything’s been _different_ since I haven’t seen a doctor in over 200 years…” she chuckled, swallowing a lump in her throat.

“I have noticed a gain in your bodyweight since I last saw you…” Curie started, struggling to put her results delicately. “And your body is…well…”

“What’s the test you wanna run? Wanna see if I’ve got mole rats under my skin?” Val suggested, the dread really starting to sink in. She had been feeling off and wrong for months, make no mistake. At first, she had blamed it on guilt for locking Gage up. Then she hoped it had simply been rad poisoning, making her throw up. A lot. However, when the RadAway failed to do its job, she presumed the worst…

_“You’re dying?” Valkyrie gasped._

_Shaun nodded, sage and resolute. “I’m afraid so. A very aggressive form of cancer. Believe me when I say we’ve done everything we can…”_

“We would like to do an ultrasound,” said Dr. Forsythe, cutting into Val’s thoughts. “I believe you’re pregnant.”

Valkyrie sat up on the table, starting to climb off. Curie got up to push her back, if only because she was dressed in nothing but a cloth gown. Dr. Forsythe held her back as well, begging Val to stay put.

“Madame, please. You agreed to come here with Mr. Garvey, you have submitted to the tests, why deny this?” Curie pleaded, struggling with Val.

“I can’t be. I _won’t_ be, how’s that?” Val snapped, pushing Curie away. Upon seeing the hurt in Curie’s face as she recoiled, Val immediately regretted it. “Damn it, Curie, I thought you were gonna tell me I had cancer, or something. That I was gonna spend the rest of my days withering away, after all the shit I’ve been through.”

Dr. Forsythe delicately placed a hand on Curie’s shoulder and she nodded to him, brushing away a tear for being so startled. Val frowned; she really liked Curie, but she could only imagine what it was like to still be learning how to be human, to be easily startled, angry, or upset.

“Curie, I’m sorry…” Val said, holding out her arms. “I’m just a little freaked out…”

Curie moved in for the hug, rubbing Val’s back gently. “Why would that be? You are already a mother, to Shaun.”

“Yeah, but…” Val sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I think I know who the father is, and he wants nothing to do with me.”

Forsythe hissed and shook his head. “That’s never pleasant.” Clearing his throat, Dr. Forsythe gestured for Val to lie back again, and she complied.

“Now, what we have is over 200 years old, but with your help in scavenging parts, I _think_ this machine is still kicking. I haven’t had someone expecting around here in years,” Dr. Forsythe said, as he went to the supply storage, pulling out the rolling cart with the ancient ultrasound on it.

Curie clapped and bounced on the balls of her feet. “I am excited as well. I have never been present for the birth of a human, let alone the seeing of one through medical technology.”

Dr. Forsythe chuckled, rolling the cart over to the table and plugging it into the wall. It hummed to life, and Val wriggled in place on the table.

“Should it be making that noise?” she asked, watching the machine come online, blinking as it warmed up. “I mean, I know machines hum…”

“Don’t worry. We’ve had it _on_ before, we just haven’t had occasion to use it. Not even appendicitis. You’re going to be its inaugural exam,” declared Dr. Forsythe, pulling up Val’s gown and rubbing her abdomen with gel.

Val lay against the cushion, staring up at the ceiling. The whole process brought her back to the life she had before, with Nate shifting from foot to foot, excited beside her, eager to see his son. The feeling of dread had not gone away. If anything, it was worse _now_. Nate had at least **wanted** to be there for his kid, maybe for Val. Gage was off with the Brotherhood, and Val felt pretty certain he wouldn’t give a shit about a kid anyway. Children were a liability.

Beside her, Dr. Forsythe was giving Curie a lesson on what they were looking for, how to get the images as he moved the scope across Val’s stomach. Val’s fists had balled up into the plastic liner of the exam table again, and she was trembling.

“Please, lay still, Madame…” Curie rubbed her arm with a soothing stroke, but it only served to keep Val from moving. The tension was still there, and she wanted it to be over, even for Dr. Forsythe to say it was a mistake, that whatever was bothering her was something else completely. Mirelurk eggs. Too much for breakfast. Anything else…

“See, that? A healthy heartbeat! She’s looking good, General,” Dr. Forsythe said instead, turning to give her a smile.

“H-healthy? _She_?” Val stammered, chancing a look at the monitor. Sure enough, there was a familiar sight, a little heartbeat… “Dammit.” She rubbed at her eyes, feeling tears coming on. “I can’t believe it.”

“What is wrong?” asked Curie, sitting on the mat beside Val’s legs.

“Wrong? Certainly, she’s happy…” Forsythe guessed, pulling Val’s gown back over her. “Should I send Mr. Garvey in?”

“No,” Val pleaded, holding onto Curie’s arm for support. “I just need a moment…”

“Should I go?” Curie asked, but Val held her arm tighter. “I will stay.”

Once they were alone, Valkyrie covered her face with both hands. She started to sob, feeling lost and alone, even with Curie there, struggling to calm her down.

“Madame, I know we have not always been so close because I am still… how you say, ‘wet behind the ears,’ but I will always be your friend. You have given me so much, and I still cannot pay that all back for you,” Curie promised, her arms around Val’s shoulders. “I will do what I can to help.”

Val sniffed and nodded, leaning into Curie’s side. “Thanks, Curie. I’m just… There’s so much I’ve gotta do. I’m the General of the Minutemen, and the Pack might leave and the Brotherhood is trying to take over…”

“It is a lot of pressure, but surely you can even the playing field? Too much stress will be bad for the both of you.” Curie smiled and patted Val’s belly.

“You know, I hoped I was just getting fat,” Val chuckled, wiping at her eyes. “I wasn’t exactly thin to begin with… and not always eating right.”

“I can create a nutritional guideline for you during this-“

“No, no, I’ll be fine. I just…” Val rubbed at her eyes. “I found out three days ago that Gage is working for the Brotherhood of Steel, and I stupidly hoped that he had just vanished, or maybe even died…”

“Stupid? I do not think you are stupid, Valkyrie, not for this.” Curie leaned in and pressed her nose to Val’s temple. “When Dr. Collins passed away, I did not understand pain as a Miss Nanny. Now that I am… human, I feel the loss. Knowing he is dead, I know where he is, that he is gone. I think…” Curie paused and hugged Val again. “I think if I were to see him alive again, I would not feel well, knowing he had only been away, doing things without telling me.”

“You’d wonder why he wasn’t talking to you,” Val clarified, and felt Curie nodding against her shoulder. Sniffling, Val kissed Curie’s temple. “I know why Gage stopped talking to me. I think that makes it worse.” _It’s my fault,_ she thought.

“Then, you shall bear his child and raise it among a family of your friends. Perhaps you could move to Diamond City. It would be safer.”

Val scoffed and shook her head. “Yeah, no, I’m not going to have a kid being raised to think she’s above or below other people because they live in elevated housing. I’d sooner move in with the Children of Atom.”

Curie leaned back, studying her face. “You could stay with me. I would be available to tend to any health problems you may face, as you have had them before, yes? With Shaun?”

“You just want to _observe_ me,” Val replied, though not without a smirk. “Find another guinea pig.”

“It would just be more informative if I were to study-“

“Every pregnancy is different. I didn’t even feel the first one. Nausea and exhaustion, yeah, but… sometimes this one hit me so bad I thought I _was_ dying. I also thought I hid it better from Preston…”

Curie helped Val to her feet to redress. “You were hoping your body was simply doing its job in keeping itself alive, then? Fighting off terrible diseases? You were very nervous when you arrived.”

Val smiled and gave Curie a squeeze around the shoulders. “Still am. You’re getting a lot better at reading people, though.”

“I have had an excellent tutor. Do not worry – it was not Deacon.”

 

Outside, when she was dressed and calmer, Valkyrie met up with Preston. Linking arms with him, Val took him out of the Vault before she revealed the news. While she had expected Preston to be upset, she hadn’t considered just how much.

“So… you’re having his child…” Preston murmured. He dropped his head and took his hat off, sweeping a hand over his scalp. “Are you gonna tell him?” he asked, looking up again and replacing his hat.

Valkyrie shook her head and rubbed her abdomen. “I don’t think so. I can’t even get near the Airport without having a minigun pointed at my head. And unless I happen to run into Haylen, no one from the Brotherhood would do me the favor of fetching him for me.”

“We could send out a request, via Radio Freedom-“

“You really want to help-?” Val asked, her question cut off when Dr. Forsythe came from the Vault, panting.

“So glad I caught you…” he wheezed. Thrusting a small stack of photos toward Val, he put a hand on his side, holding a stitch. “I forgot to give these to you.”

“Why didn’t you just have Curie run out?” Val accepted the photos and flipped through them; they were small print outs from the ultrasound machine, time and date stamped with information regarding the baby shaped gray blob in them. “Thanks, doc, but I don’t think I’ll be starting a baby book with these…”

“Nonsense. I understand pre-war mothers kept mementos all the time. Start the tradition anew,” said Dr. Forsythe, smiling broadly.

Val exchanged glances with Preston and tucked the photos into the inner pocket of her General’s coat. “O-kay then. Well… Thanks? I’ve got general-y type stuff to do. Settlements needing my help and all that,” she said, starting to back away from the doctor.

Forsythe just shook his head. “You should get this young man to help you handle that. You’re expecting, now. You need to take it easy. You don’t want to endanger your daughter, do you?”

Looking to the sky, Valkyrie closed her eyes and prayed for strength. She had no reason to shoot Dr. Forsythe, but giving her helpful suggestions made her want to go do reckless shit anyway, out of misplaced spite. Thankfully, she had Preston with her, a much more sensible person at the moment.

“You’re having a girl?” Preston asked, a cheerful lilt to his voice far different from a moment ago. “Another little Valkyrie. Don’t think the Commonwealth can handle two of you.”

Val threw her hands up in the air and walked away. “God, don’t say cute shit like that! You’re both frustrating as fuck!”

Preston bid Dr. Forsythe goodbye, and then jogged to catch up with Val. He bumped her shoulder when he matched her pace, waiting for her to quit stewing and say what was on her mind.

“I hated my first pregnancy,” Val began, hiking her rifle up her shoulder. “Not just the part where it almost killed me, but I really do not like sitting around. I mean, why do you think I do so much shit half the time? It’s not really for the people, it’s for me.”

“I don’t believe that,” countered Preston. “That you just help people because you’re bored. I _know_ it takes a toll on you. You care about the Commonwealth. If you didn’t – this would be Raider territory right now.” He swept his arm, indicating the surrounding area as they hit the open field where the Vertibird was supposed to return.

“I’m sorry,” Val huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “I just—I did talk about kids with Gage. But, at the time… it was a distant ‘maybe.’ Like, if we both _happened_ to live long enough… he didn’t know I was gonna bring in the Minutemen.” Val turned away, pacing back and forth a few steps as she waited. “Now, it’s a reality, staring me in the face and I don’t know what to do.”

Preston stopped her moving and held her by the shoulders, looking Val in the eye. Val pulled her gaze away and down, shaking her head. She sniffled and thumbed at her nose, trying – failing – to look braver than she felt.

“Do you **want** another baby?” Preston asked, so quiet Val wasn’t sure she’d heard him at all.

“I dunno. I mean… she didn’t ask for this.”

“For what?”

“To be born. Kid of an ex-Raider and a glorified Merc.”

Preston drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, holding it for a moment before speaking. “Are you still so unsure of yourself, General? You don’t think you’re… what? Worthy of being a mother?”

Val licked her lips and took a step back, the emotions from earlier crashing back as a tidal wave. “I don’t think I’m a good person, for starters. I can’t- everybody I’ve cared about has wound up dead or hating me. I just… I can’t be the General you think I am _and_ be the person I think I should be. I don’t even know who that is, anymore.” She started to take another step away when Preston caught her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

“I think you’re Valkyrie. And unless you don’t care about me, or Piper, or Curie, or anyone else… I think you’re a better person than you realize,” Preston said, speaking against her ear. His voice was tight, strained, and hoarse. “You’ve helped a lot of people.”

“I’ve killed a lot of people.”

“It’s never an easy choice to make,” Preston said. “Killing someone or letting them live.”

Val coughed and tucked her face into the nape of Preston’s neck, breathing in the dust of the Commonwealth that seemed permanently fixed to his coat. “That’s what my name means, you know.”

“Hm?” Preston leaned back enough to look down to her.

“Valkyrie. I looked it up, long time ago. It’s a Norse demi-goddess that chooses who lives and dies on the battlefield.”

“Appropriate for you, then.”

“I guess.” Val sniffled and rubbed at her eyes, blinking them back into focus. “I want to tell Gage, if only to be fair, I guess…”

“You want to see him again,” Preston said, and there was no question to it. “As always, I’ll have your back, General. I can see if we can communicate with The Brotherhood via Radio Freedom. Maybe we’ll even be able to set up negotiations with them.”

Val snickered and looked up. Their Vertibird transport circled the area as it descended toward the pair. “If they go long enough, I’ll just have my kid in front of Maxson!” she shouted above the noise. “It would send one hell of a message! Just whip a boob out and start feeding right there, looking him dead in the eye.”

Preston laughed as he helped her board the Vertibird, hauling himself inside just after. “Anyone tell you, you have one hell of an imagination?”

Val’s smile faded as she strapped herself in. “So I’ve heard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... really, REALLY waffled on whether or not I wanted Val to be pregnant again. I mean, even before I started writing this series, because of what I wanted her previous life to be. I decided she does really want to have a family, she's just terrified of losing it.
> 
> Also, I just needed to be writing Preston as the perfect angel he is, can you blame me?


	4. Playing the Radio Outside Your Prydwen Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val's in her 7th month of pregnancy when she gets a chance to talk to Gage... and negotiate with the Brotherhood.

“I'm sick of _pining_ , Mac. It's getting me nowhere.”

Looking up from their shared tools, Robert Joseph MacCready chuckled across the table at Valkyrie. He stole a screwdriver from her side and used it to adjust the scope on his rifle.

“Pining doesn't suit you, Boss,” MacCready replied, pausing to check his scope before returning the screwdriver. “You haven't heard back from the Brotherhood in weeks anyway, right?”

Val sighed and nodded as she dripped a little oil into her rifle, wiping away an over-spill when it dribbled over her hand. “Yeah. I mean, I didn't exactly give details as to why I wanted to talk to **him** , specifically, and with the Brotherhood being, well, _The Brotherhood_ , they don't trust me enough to just sit down for drinks. They just don't want to negotiate, either.”

MacCready grinned and nudged her leg under the table with his foot. “Not like you can drink anything harder than a Nuka Cola, anyway. One look at you, though, Maxson might kick Gage off the Prydwen himself.”

Val cringed and looked down at her belly. In the month since she had learned that she was, indeed, pregnant, her belly had swollen considerably; there was no more denying it now, not when her unborn daughter kept kicking her in ribs at night. “That would imply he gives a shit. Elder Maxson gives no shits. He has no shits to give.”

“I still can't believe that little turd became Elder of his own Brotherhood branch. What a douche.”

Val grinned and pegged MacCready in the shoulder with an empty shell casing. “That's a cap for the swear jar, Mac.”

MacCready frowned and pulled a cap from his pocket and leaned over to the shelf where a jar for such occasions sat, half-full from other people's (mostly MacCready’s) “donations” to it. He huffed and leaned back in his chair, thinking to himself before speaking again.

“If the Brotherhood won't negotiate, what's been happening to the settlements? Are they just giving up?”

“No, some of them are staying loyal. So far, I haven't heard of any being burned down for defying the Brotherhood, but that's tentative.” Valkyrie turned in her seat and put her feet up on a stool on her side of the shack, huffing. “They're stubborn.”

“No wonder you've got a thing for their new Warden,” MacCready said, casting her a cheeky smirk. “He probably fits right in.”

Val gave him the finger and draped her arms over her stomach. “Festering anger isn't his thing. He just walks away, stops caring. His parents, the gangs he used to run with. Just... when shit went south, he left if there wasn't anything to care about anymore.” Val rubbed under her nose and sniffed. “I don't want him coming back if it's just to claim his kid. She's half _me_ , too.”

Removing his hat, MacCready leaned both elbows on the table, hands clasped together. “You know, Daisy's caravan is bringing Duncan up here. A lot of people raise kids on their own...” he hedged, not quite meeting her eyes.

“Mac...” Val sat up with a grunt of her own and a creak from her chair. “I'm not saying I can't do it _without_ Gage. I'm just saying that if he gets wind of his daughter, I don't want him coming around for her like she's his property. I really will put a bullet in him if he pulls that shit.” She reached across the table and grabbed one of his hands, and he squeezed her fingers in response. “I've got my family.”

MacCready smiled to Valkyrie, giving her a nod. “That's all I wanted to know. You know we're here for you, Val. Especially me and Duncan.”

Valkyrie smiled to him a moment before it was interrupted by a knock on her shack door. Jun Long's timid voice floated through, barely carried over Diamond City Radio.

“General? There's a call from the Castle on the ham. I, um, I think the Brotherhood has issued a response.”

Val huffed and got up from her seat, MacCready sweeping around the table to help her up. She thanked him with a smack to his rear and a grin. “I'm not _that_ big yet. You don't need to pamper me.”

“Yeah, but, I like to. You should have seen me with Lucy. She nearly took a wrench to my skull to get me to stop. You're gonna have to outdo that one, Boss.”

“I own many guns.”

MacCready threw his head back and laughed, keeping his arm around Val's shoulders as they crossed to the main house. Val brushed off looks from Marcy and Sturges, who had been handling most of the chores around Sanctuary. When Marcy had learned of Val's pregnancy, she had almost seemed pleasant until Val told her who the father was. Marcy had nearly left Sanctuary because of it; only Jun stepping up to his wife had kept them in town. Sturges had ended up the wall between them after that – he wasn't entirely pleased that Val's lover had been a Raider, either, but he hadn't thought it fair for Marcy to try to take off like that over Valkyrie's kid.

Scooping up the microphone, Valkyrie announced herself, waiting for the callback from the Radio Freedom announcer. Instead, she found herself treated to the sound of Preston's voice.

“Val, Elder Maxson's agreed to a meeting with us. They want to meet up tomorrow at Bunker Hill, since it's relatively neutral to both parties.”

Val hummed to herself and clicked on the mic to respond. “You got those countermeasures in place? I wouldn’t put it past Gage to use the same bullshit tactic on us that his old boss did to him. Has Jezebel been fitted with those launchers?”

Preston took a moment to reply, but when he did, he sounded hesitant. “Do you really think we need to guard the Castle from an assault? Should we just tell them to meet here?”

“They won't go for it. It took them this long to come up with a time and place, and their other tactics have been pretty damned Raider-like. If Gage doesn't have Maxson's ear, he probably knows by now, who to make suggestions to. Likely Lancer-Captain Kells.”

“Damn. Alright. Yes, she's been outfitted. Complaining the whole time, too.”

“Sounds like her. I do like a bitchier bot.”

“Surely, you don't mean to replace me, mum?” Codsworth's voice interrupted from outside. “I can complain more, if that suits you.”

“Never! But, I'm a little busy, sweetheart,” Val said, returning to the comm. “Is Danse ready to roll on this? Having him there might throw Maxson's game.”

Preston's last remark came after a minute of radio silence. “Yes, but... what if he sends Gage instead?”

“Then he's gonna have to contend with _me_. I'll be waiting for my bird, Preston. Valkyrie out.”

 

Bunker Hill had greatly changed since the battle between three factions happened there. Many sections had been rebuilt, with both the Brotherhood and the Minutemen assisting after the devastating assault from the Institute happened. Val happened to know that some monetary donations toward rebuilding came from the Railroad as well, but kept that secret to herself.

The meeting area had ended up being the marketplace in the center of the large settlement; both sides making more contributions to Bunker Hill's upkeep to buy in the area while they met.

Aside from Danse and Preston, MacCready had insisted he come along as well; he had no love for the Brotherhood as a whole, and even though he knew Danse was a Synth, he put his faith in Val's reasoning that he attend.

Valkyrie wore a long coat over her clothing and no armor; another reason MacCready had chosen to go along. She appreciated his sense of duty, but did smack him upside the head for insinuating she couldn't handle herself.

Entering the marketplace from one side of the room, the Brotherhood representatives entered: Elder Maxson, as well as two Knights, two Scribes and Proctor Teagan's errand boy, “Warden” Gage.

Val kept her arms folded over her chest to keep her coat closed as she took a seat between Danse and Preston. MacCready kept himself behind the three of them, on the watch. Somewhere, Val knew Deacon had wanted to sneak in to catch the proceedings, but had yet to catch him. Her focus was entirely on the meeting, so if he was there, she missed his disguise.

“General Valkyrie, I wish I could say it is good to see you again, but in the presence of this... abomination, I find this meeting to be quite off-putting already,” said Maxson, holding out his hand to shake.

Val grabbed his hand and felt him try to out-muscle her by squeezing tight. She tensed her own hand and turned her wrist to keep him from dominating the shake. “Funny, I was going to say the same about your beard,” she said, meeting him eye to eye. Her head canted slightly in Gage's direction – his face mouth was drawn into a tight frown and he looked her over. Val could see the gears turning as he tried to riddle out what was different, but she wouldn't let on. Instead, she simply pulled her seat forward at the table's edge until it just touched her belly.

“Well, gentlemen, shall we begin?” she asked, opening her hands to indicate their meeting had begun.

Maxson placed his own hands on the table. “First, I would like you to bear in mind, _General_ , that this is merely a formality, since it seems we have been picking up the slack where your Minutemen have been failing.”

Val's mouth tightened into a thin line and she nodded. “I will be the first to admit that I've been behind in my duties. I have been unwell and appointing a replacement is no easy task.”

“Surely your ranks are not _that_ untrustworthy?” Maxson taunted, his hands folding together in a bridge before him. “Or is it simply a lack of capability?”

“My men and women are capable, and their numbers have grown exponentially in the last six months. The addition of new recruits from across the mountain range-”

“Recruits?” Maxson echoed.

Gage leaned closer to Maxson and explained. “Since General Valkyrie took down the Raiders of Nuka World, the recruits she's talking about come from the remains of Raider gangs. The Pack and some of the Operators.”

Maxson looked nearly delighted, which was to say that a spark of wickedness flashed in his eye and Val caught the glimpse of a smile. “Raiders,” he said. “How interesting. They must be _very_ cooperative.”

“Yes. I'm sure Porter has told you all about them, as he personally assembled the gangs under an 'Overboss' over a year ago,” Valkyrie countered. “He was the right hand to their leader, Overboss Colter.”

Before Maxson could say anything to that, Gage piped up, eyes on Val. “And _you_ were their boss afterwards. You gave them land and promised them money and murder.”

Val's hand at her left balled into a fist; without looking, Danse laid his hand over hers and pressed it into the table. “I did. I admit it was in an attempt to see whose loyalty I could win, who would work with us. I seem to have come out on top of that, did I not?”

Again, Maxson attempted to speak but Gage cut him off before a word was uttered.

“You did, after you turned on them. You stormed Nuka Town with the Minutemen-”

“And those who surrendered were cared for and put to work. They guard settlements and provide extra coverage for my provisioners, which I can't guarantee the lines will be any more secure now that the Brotherhood has **broken** several trade lines along the coast,” Val said, her eyes entirely on Gage now, instead of Maxson. “Breaking down the trade routes keeps the Brotherhood spread thin since the provisioners no longer visit the settlements who changed sides.”

“If I may-” started Maxson, but again, Gage cut him off a third time.

“Maybe they went with a gang who could offer them proper firepower and loyalty-”

Val tugged her hand free of Danse’s grip and slapped both on the table, standing up and leaning in Gage's direction.

“You wanna talk Brotherhood and _loyalty_? That's a fucking laugh. As soon as you're out of step with their dogma, they throw you the fuck out. The Minutemen _work_ with peopl-”

“And mow down whoever doesn't play nice!” Gage shouted, on his feet as well. “You can accept a Raider who'll play along with your do-gooder games for now, but who's gonna have your back?”

“You expect these assholes to?!” Val shouted, nearly in Gage's face. The table groaned under the strain of both of them leaning on it, wobbling unsteadily as Val and Gage were inches from each other's faces. They stared each other down, seething and angry.

Maxson stood and took Gage by the shoulders, pulling him away from Valkyrie. On the other side, Preston and Danse each had one of Valkyrie's arms and eased her back into her seat. She went down with a hiss – in the heat of the moment, her unborn started kicking; Valkyrie rubbed her abdomen and muttered to herself to calm down.

Gage stared, wide-eyed, at Val as he realized her situation. Maxson spoke to him, but from where Val sat, it seemed like nothing was getting in.

“-I said, be seated and be quiet, or you can wait outside of these proceedings, do you understand me, Warden?” Maxson repeated, putting himself between Gage and the table. “Are you listening?”

Eye dragging to look at Maxson, Gage nodded, his mouth closing slowly. Maxson glanced back over his shoulder towards Valkyrie, and sighed. Running a hand over his face, Maxson returned to the table.

“It seems there is a need for full disclosure, General. Please take the Warden aside and explain to him your situation, so that we might get on with this.” Maxson sat heavily in his chair, thoroughly exhausted for a man at such a young age.

Studying Maxson a moment, Val shook her head. “I don't think that's such-”

“You would be doing me a favor, General,” Maxson said, dropping pretense. “I have been privy to his complaints regarding you for _months_. The least you could do is get him to focus. Then, we can continue.”

Getting to her feet, Valkyrie declined Preston's offer of a hand up and MacCready's presence while speaking with Gage. Leaving her long coat behind to reveal a loose white dress underneath, Val approached Gage and held out her hand.

“Walk with me, Porter. Please.”

Gage nodded and slipped his hand into hers, letting Val lead him from the Marketplace. They went outside to the monument, hidden in the shade of the marble statue.

“It's mine, isn't it?” Gage asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course she's yours.”

“She? It's a girl?”

Val chuckled. “If she wants to be.”

Gage leaned against the wall, bent over with his hands on his knees. “How long- I mean, when did you find out?”

“Been sick a while, so I kinda denied it. Preston dragged me to a Vault with some decent med tech and, well... at least it's not a deathclaw.” Val tried to laugh, feeling her own voice die in her throat. “I've been trying to contact the Brotherhood to tell you, but I'm not exactly their fave person because of Danse.”

Gage rubbed at his face, taking a deep breath as he righted himself. “Because you were loyal to him,” he said, his voice dropped to a sour rumble.

Val pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Gage, Danse is a Synth. One of Shaun's creations.”

“And you feel responsible for him?”

“For finding out his life was a lie? Kinda. If I hadn't gone into the Institute, they might never have found out. Danse was ready to kill himself for the Brotherhood.”

“But you talked him down,” Gage guessed, fiddling with the metal loop at the front off his flight suit. “You tried to bring me over to your side.”

“And you're really fucking stubborn.”

Gage huffed and looked down toward her. “I didn't want to admit I was hurt. When you let me go... felt like you'd made your decision.”

“Porter...” Val leaned her shoulder on the wall of the obelisk. She played with the decorative belt of her dress, where it sat over her belly. “Everything I cared about was taken from me. My career, my family... _two hundred years,_ gone. I couldn't keep the one thing I wanted for myself because it... wasn't right.”

Moving to stand before her, Gage took Val by the shoulders. “You gave up what we had for the Commonwealth. That ain't _right_ , either. You gave up _us_ ‘cause you think somethin’s gonna happen? Then you went and _made_ it happen, Val. You didn’t want to lose me, so you threw me out?”

Val pushed on his chest and got him to step back. “I _gave you_ the choice to leave, and you took it. You could have stayed behind. You just took your cash and went. Told me enough.”

Gage closed his eye and fiddled with the collar of his flight suit until it unzipped. From underneath, he pulled two chains: one with his Brotherhood holotags. The other carried the gold rings Val had slipped to him in a silver bottle. Val looked at the rings and lifted her hand to touch them, then withdrew quickly.

“Why’d you keep them?” she asked. “Why not pawn them off with everything else?” Val could feel herself shaking, the notion of him keeping the ringswas far more sentimental than she expected from Gage.

“They were a reminder of what I had. Someone who had my back. Someone I could trust... wanted to still trust.” Gage tucked in his holotags so that only the gold rings were outside his suit. “Tried to part with’em in Goodneighbor, but I couldn’t let’em go.” Taking Val’s hand, he pulled the chain off and dropped the whole thing in her palm.

“Did I make you happy?” Val asked, closing her fingers around the rings.

“Yeah, you did. Felt like I could breathe a little easier, maybe sleep a little deeper with you at my side.” Gage closed one hand over hers, using the other to bring Val’s gaze up with a touch under her chin. “Now, you.”

Val blinked. “Huh?”

Gage smirked and moved his hand to rest on her shoulder. “You tell me somethin’ nice, about why you liked me so much.”

“You listened. You didn’t push when you saw me breaking right in front of you.” Val took the hand from her shoulder and moved it so he cradled her cheek. “You didn’t make me out to be some paragon of heroism. I felt like I could rest... not just wait for some other fire to put out, but just... do what I wanted.”

“Until playtime was over,” Gage replied, his voice dry and brittle. “And you gave up everything we had.”

“I’ve got a lot of people depending on me...”

“Fuck’em! _I_ depended on you! I had your back! I-” Gage shut his mouth with a sharp clack of teeth. Gage trembled, flushed red through his face.

“You what?” Val turned her grip on his hands, taking his wrists so he couldn’t run this time. “Say it.”

“I love you.”

Val dropped his hands and covered her mouth with her own. “ **Present** tense?”

“For Christ’s- _yes_ , Val, I fucking love you. I’ve been tryin’ this whole fuckin’ time to _hate_ you and I just... CAN’T!” Gage growled, his face red and body tense. “What else do you want me to say?!”

“There’s a lot of explaining you need to do, where you went, and like what the _fuck_ you’re doing with the Brotherhood, but- ow, **shit**...” Val gasped and held her stomach. Gage moved closer, hands out but making no contact with no idea of what to do.

“I’m okay,” Val wheezed. “She’s kinda temperamental.” Looking up, she gave him a pained smile. “Take your gloves off.”

Complying with Val’s request, Gage tucked his gloves into his belt. As soon as his hands were near enough, Val placed them on her belly, holding very still while the baby kicked. Gage froze up, his good eye wide and staring down at his hands. He swallowed, breathing slow and deep with his bottom lip between his teeth. His eye started to water; Val reached up and rubbed at the lid with her thumb.

“Little weird, huh? Making a life when you’re so used to taking them,” she said, soft and gentle. “Really freaked me out with Shaun.” She moved Gage’s hand down a little further when she felt the baby shift. “Dr. Forsythe says she looks healthy. Just hope... you know, this round goes better.”

“I wanna be there,” Gage murmured. His whole posture dropped, his anger drained out of him like a broken pipe. “I can’t make the shit I done right...”

“Neither can I,” Val interrupted. “We’ve got a lot to discuss. Maxson and Preston probably think we ran away.”

“We could-”

Val shook her head and picked his hands up. She placed a tentative kiss on the back of his knuckles and sighed. “ _I_ can’t. You wanna keep running? Go. But, this is where I belong, Porter.”

Gage put an arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Val tensed up, briefly, until she was let go again. “I’m not going anywhere. Except back to the table. We can get this shit between...” Gage gestured between them, “us, settled when we’ve got the rest of the ‘Wealth under wraps.”

As they headed back, Val walked closer to Gage, her arm linked with his. “Why did you start being Teagan's bitch-boy anyway? He can’t pay that well.”

“You want the truth?”

Val smirked and elbowed him lightly. “Are you gonna _give_ me the truth?”

Gage chuckled and nodded. “I deserve that. But, well... I was thinkin’ if the Brotherhood ain’t got a place to be and all this gear, why not do something with it... and give you a fuckin’ break? They get their crops, settlers get their shitty little farms protected, you can take a goddamned nap for once.”

Val pinched his side to stop him. “You’re full of shit.”

“Well, half-full. It was a _tiny_ bit spiteful.” He held up his fingers, millimeters apart, to indicate just **how** tiny. “Yanno... ‘look what we took from you’ kinda thing-OW! Woman, do you always gotta hit me like that?” Gage asked, rubbing his shoulder where she’d punched him.

“Absolutely, because I fucking knew it!” Val started walking again, pulling away from Gage. “You weren’t really thinking of me the whole time. What Maxson said...”

“Wasn’t total bullshit. I’ve kinda... been using you as a rallying point. ‘The Minutemen General thinks she’s got everything under wraps,’ or some shit like that. Supposin’ I just... laid it on a little _too_ thick...” Gage mused, catching up to put his arm around Val’s shoulders. Val grabbed his hand and pressed the rings into his palm.

“You hang onto these for me. We still need to have a real talk, air out all our shit. Keep’em as collateral until we do, okay?” Val asked.

Gage nodded and parted from her as they returned to the Marketplace. “I can do that.”

Upon returning to the Marketplace and the table in the center, Valkyrie sat back in the center seat, and Gage once again flanked Elder Maxson. Preston leaned in near Val and murmured to her.

“You doing alright? Is everything okay?”

Val patted his hand, but shook her head. “We agreed to talk, Preston. This meeting takes precedent.”

Across the table, Maxson seemed to be having a similarconversation with Gage, however, less discreet.

“-resolve your issues, Warden, or be discharged,” was the last bit Valkyrie picked up before they all turned their attention back to the real reason they were all present: sharing the Commonwealth, both in its trade and its protection. Once they got down to brass tacks, arguments and discussions, it took a few hours, working out details and stipulations. Brotherhood could fashion settlers as their own provisioners, so long as they did not turn away any settlers who worked for or with the Minutemen. Minutemen would still assist settlements under assault, regardless of their banner, and Brotherhood would do the same.

“And one final thing,” Val said, leaning on her elbows. “No settler is to be turned away if they’re in trouble – this includes ghouls.”

“You must be joking, if you think-”

Val looked Maxson in the eye as she spoke. “Ghouls are still people. As are Synths, but you can’t tell the difference by looking. Ghouls are humans who were hurt by radiation. They’re just trying to get along in the world, like anyone else.”

Maxson pushed against the back of his chair and frowned. “What of Synths, then? They were never born, never raised by parents-”

“If someone happens to reveal that they are a Synth, should they _know_ , they should be protected as well. They might not have been created in the fun way,” Val said, rubbing her stomach for emphasis. “But they do come from human DNA. Father, the Institute’s leader, told me they came from _his_ DNA, specifically.”

Beside Maxson, Gage’s lips parted with a small gasp at her reveal. He remembered Val telling him, but never expected Val to tell Maxson; he glanced toward the Elder, who sized Val up from his seat, rubbing his fingertips together as he contemplated this fact.

“Reports indicated that _you_ were mother to this... Father. To Shaun,” Maxson said, his voice very quiet. “Are you saying you’re responsible for these... creations?”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to keep you from mowing them down like chaff among the wheat, then, yes. I killed my own son and destroyed everything he built to protect the Commonwealth.” Val felt her eyes water as she rubbed her own stomach, more for her own comfort than that of her unborn baby. “I did all that to someone I loved and cared for. Do not try to discover what I might do to _you_ and the Brotherhood if you push me, Elder.” Her back was stiff, jaw tight as she held herself together, staring Maxson down.

Standing from his seat, Maxson looked down at Val, and for a moment, she thought that might be it, that her promise was going too far, that Maxson wouldn’t go for the deal if the Brotherhood was going to have to spare ghouls and Synths alike. Instead, he held out his hand.

“If you are going to take the responsibility on your shoulders for these... _things_ , then you have a deal. **You** speak for them. For Ghouls, and for Synths.”

Val stood up and reached for his hand, then pulled back. “And _you_ are to be responsible for the actions of your Brotherhood. If I find out you and yours have been abusing settlers, abusing or berating them in any way... you bear the consequences. No one is a slave. If you can’t keep your own men in line, this accord is done for. Got it?”

Val held out her hand, inches from Maxson’s, waiting to see if he would agree. After a moment of contemplation, Maxson clapped his hand against hers and shook, agreeing to the terms. Beside her, Val could hear Danse and Preston sigh with relief. Even Gage and at least one scribe looked like they were catching their breath from holding it in anticipation.

One of the Scribes approached the table and placed a document on the table. “For you, General. A copy of this meeting’s conversation. The Elder will have the copy my partner has with her, and it will be filed with Proctor Quinlan if you have any reservations about the agreement.” The Scribe turned for a moment, then turned back. “Congratulations, by the way,” he said, gesturing to her stomach.

Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, Val gathered the papers and handed the copy to Preston for safe handling. “I’ll keep my copy on lockdown at the Castle. I’m on sabbatical, considering...” she patted her belly and sighed. Turning to Maxson, she added, “I’ll be in Sanctuary for the next month, then I’ll be at Vault 81 until my baby is born.” Glancing toward Gage, she continued with Maxson. “In case you have something else to add to our accord.”

Maxson frowned and turned to his Warden. “Very well. Gage, when we return to the Prydwen, you’re to gather your things and take leave. Far be it for me to separate an expectant father from his child.”

Gage and Val both uttered “What!?” at the same time.

Smirking, Maxson folded his arms over his chest. “You’re so quick to think me some sort of monster, General. I can be gracious, at times. Besides, this will give you time to see that the Brotherhood can honor their end of the bargain without resorting to... what would you call it? Raider-like tactics?” Maxson turned and walked away from the table. Gage watched him go before turning to Val.

“Watch yourself, Val,” he murmured, before catching up to Maxson and the others.

Val frowned, turning to Preston and Danse. “The fuck does that mean?”

Preston shook his head, waiting for the Brotherhood members to leave the Marketplace before speaking. “I’m not sure, General, but now I’m gonna worry the whole trip home.”

Danse shook his head. “Arthur might have something up his sleeve, or he said that just to make you paranoid. I don’t think he plans on bringing harm to you, however. It’s likely that word of your-” he gestured to Val, “-pregnancy has gotten out by now. I know the Minutemen mention it whenever they pass through. If you were to be assassinated, especially now, you’d have more power as a Martyr, and the Brotherhood would be condemned for it.” Danse picked up Val’s coat and helped her into it, tying it off at the front for her. “If anything, he wants _you_ to lash out first.”

Val frowned and took MacCready’s arm when he offered it to her and walked beside him. “Lash out? Why?”

“To make you seem like a nutcase, boss. Maxson’s not known for being the most stable leader, but if you’re jumping at shadows, worried about your power getting taken away...” MacCready offered, helping her down the stairs at the other side of Bunker Hill.

“Then I’m a mad despot and need to be taken out. Great. I’m not gonna play that game.” Val shook her head and followed the group out toward the open area where the Minutemen Vertibird was to land.

“Good idea, boss. Don’t let’im get inside your head. _You_ get inside _his_ head, set up camp,” Deacon’s voice appeared at her free arm, and there he was, dressed in combat armor and a flat cap – at a glance, she might have mistaken him for Edward Deegan, if it weren’t for those fucking sunglasses. He linked his arm with hers and made them into a line, Val flanked by Mac and Deacon.

“Deeks. You find anything fishy around the Marketplace? Think someone tuned into me and Gage when we walked away?” Val asked, tugging on his elbow.

“Nah, no one spying on you guys but me. Cute scene though. Wish I had a camera,” Deacon said wistfully. “Never saw you look like that before, boss.”

“...like what?” Val hedged, feeling her face heat up.

Deacon sighed and threw his head back, looking up to the stars that peeked out with the encroaching twilight. “Constipated.”

Val slipped her arm out of Mac’s grip and shoved Deacon away from her. “You’re a dick!” she laughed. Everyone else laughed with her, even Danse chuckled at Deacon’s crude humor.

“You’re all a **bunch** of dicks. I hate you so much,” she said, walking ahead of them. Deacon grabbed her from behind and pulled her back near a building before they got to the clearing.

“Easy, Boss. Let us make sure it’s safe for you and little Deacon Junior you’ve got brewin’ there,” he said, patting her belly. Val swatted him off and moved away from him.

“One, it’s a girl, two, I’m sure as hell not naming my kid after _you_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right in the middle of writing this chapter, my laptop had some severe registry errors and wouldn't boot up. Had to salvage it from the drive manually, and that was not fun.


	5. Nuclear Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val reflects on her pre-war life; Gage arrives in Sanctuary.

Nate’s parents never liked Valkyrie.

No.

Nate’s parents never like _Valerie Smith_ , the pale, scarred up, tired-looking waitress whom Nate had been dating. Something they constantly insisted that Nate did just to piss them off. A fact Nate refuted every time he called them – _they_ had since stopped calling when Val came into the picture – and at any attempt they made at civil conversation over dinner.

Which was why she had a death grip on his fingers during one particular meal at what was now “their” apartment.

“Mom, Dad...” Nate demanded attention with calm poise but enough authority that reminded Val he served in the military. “Valerie and I have wonderful news.”

“Nate-” Val tried to cut him off before he just blurted it out.

“You’re going to be grandparents!”

Val’s hand trembled with tension on Nate’s fingers; she had to credit him for not flinching even when she could feel his pulse through his fingertips as the blood struggled to move through his hand.

Nate’s mother looked less pleased and more offended, glaring at Val as if she’d _assaulted_ her son. Val was tempted to spell out how Nate had brought her to the park on a date, barely hidden by bushes and they had _fucked_ – not tender lovemaking in the slightest. _We should have been arrested for public indecency, you icy bitch..._ Intimately describe every sexual detail until the woman ran off crying, but Nate was far more diplomatic about his mother’s non-reaction than Val was.

“Well, Mom? Aren’t you happy?” Nate pried his hand free and reached over to pat Val’s barely-there bump, glowing with pride that bordered on animosity.

Val could see where he got it from when Mary – Nate’s mother – merely scowled at the pair of them.

“Are you sure it’s yours?” she asked, the acid in her voice harsh enough to corrode that busybody-bot who made their dinner. Wadsworth, or whatever it was called.

Nate, speaking through his teeth, smiled at his mother. “Absolutely. Val’s a good girl, aren’t you, sweetie?”

Val’s attention snapped up from the plastic flowers in Nate’s centerpiece and she smiled, far less feral than Nate did. “Of course, dear. I love you.”

“At least you trained her to speak like a lady,” Robert, Nate’s father, grunted.

“That’s it!” Nate got to his feet and leaned over the table. He started to yell at them for treating Valerie like garbage, for their utter disdain. Convinced, he was, that Val loved him completely, which was why she had moved in. No, they weren’t married, yet, but Nate was responsible. Nate was stepping up, taking charge of their situation. Nate would make everything okay.

Nate didn’t notice when Val silently got up from the table and slipped off to their bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her.

Not that she blamed Robert and Mary. Their instincts were right, in not trusting some stranger. Valkyrie no longer existed, just Valerie. Val, for short. An assassin for the US, an orphaned little girl who could kill a man from 300 yards away with a proper scope and a clear day. To them, she was some trollop with a vague past, no parents they could scrutinize, no family to point fingers at and blame for her foul mouth or physicality with interacting with others. Her habit of punching people in the shoulder, albeit affectionately, had not sat well with either of them, Robert in particular. Wasn’t “ladylike.”

Sitting at the small vanity, Val took out tissues and makeup remover, clearing her face of layers of paint, better revealing the scar under her eye and across her nose. She tied back her long hair with an elastic and scrubbed harder, until she was clean. Her black locks wouldn’t be blue for two-hundred years, but she didn’t yet know that fact.

Creeping over to Nate’s bedside safe, she picked the lock and pulled out his handgun. He didn’t know she had discovered it, thought she believed the lie that he kept his “papers” in there. The government issue papers were taped under his desk in the living room. Cod-yes, _Codsworth,_ that was it – had accidentally uncovered them while cleaning. Nothing of major import; a copy of his record as a soldier, confirmed kills... things Valkyrie wouldn’t blink at, but a small town girl like _Valerie_ probably should have been upset over. What really bothered her was the robot.

Why a single man in an _apartment_ had a Mr. Handy was beyond her until she learned Codsworth was a gift. Some cheap platitude for “meritorious service.”

_Fuck that,_ she had said to herself. She’d done more in a year with a rifle alone than Nate had in his entire military career and her reward?She got a brand new fake identity and lost all her contacts. She’d lost Sam, her best friend and partner.

Loading the gun with a clip from under Nate’s side of the mattress, Val locked the gun’s safety and put away the safe. She placed the gun on her pillow and quickly changed into dark clothes.

Minutes later, with Nate’s handgun tucked into her waistband and a long coat covering herself, she climbed out onto the fire escape and to the street below.

 

Nate had found her a few hours later in Boston Common, sitting in the gazebo by the swan pond. He pulled the car up into her line of sight and parked it. He got out and watched her; Val watched him back, until she reluctantly got to her feet.

Crossing the park, Val pulled her coat tighter, keeping her gaze up, meeting his eyes. The dark blue of Nate’s eyes looked black at night, reflecting streetlights like wet obsidian. Val bridged her hands behind the back of her neck and stared at him, waiting for him to yell at her, talk down to her for taking off, for having him worried. Maybe he knew she had his gun.

“They finally leave?” Val asked.

“I’m sorry,” Nate said, his hands thrust into his jacket pockets. “I thought they’d really warm up to you, you know?” He looked away from her, shaking his head. “They think I’m still a kid, like you’re some sort of siren and I can’t break free of your spell or something. They just-mm--”

Val pulled him close and kissed him deep, stopping Nate dead in the middle of his apology. “Your parents are gonna hate me, no matter what. They don’t know much about me and don’t want to.”

Nate chuckled, resting his hands on Val’s hips. “I don’t even know everything about you, sweetie. But... whoever put you in my path, I’m grateful for. If you’ve got shit in your past, I get it. They don’t, because it’s been a decade since Dad served. Things changed. The world changed.”

“War never changes,” Val murmured, pressing her cheek to his. She could feel him smile against her face, so she nuzzled his neck.

“War doesn’t change itself. It changes people. I’m not the same man I was when I enlisted. I’d hate to meet the guy who goes into war happy and comes back the same way.” Nate kissed Val’s neck and buried his nose in her hair. “I came home and found you. I found a new happiness.”

“Liar. You found someone just as miserable as you were,” Val snickered, holding onto his shoulders. “I just don’t have a family to disappoint, so I gotta disappoint yours.”

“I don’t care. If they don’t accept you, they can eat me. I love you, Valerie Smith.” Nate pulled back and got down on one knee. He pulled a small box from his jacket pocket. “I was hoping to propose to you at dinner, but... well... this is the best place, isn’t it? I mean, we kinda conceived our kid here...”

Inside the box was a ring. Val raised her eyebrows, but it hadn’t surprised her at all. Nate was terrible at hiding things – she knew the day he’d bought it and that it was already too big for her. She picked up the ring and stared at it, amazed that such a small thing could feel so heavy in her hand.

“I don’t want to come between you and your family. You’re gonna need them-”

“I won’t. I’ve got you. We’ve got Codsworth. I can get him an upgrade holotape so he’ll have nanny protocols on top of housekeeping.” Nate held onto her free hand, smiling up at her, hopeful. “We don’t have to stay in Boston. I’ve got enough saved up... I was thinking we could move into that new development out west.”

Val rolled her fingers, flipping the ring back and forth in between her thumb and index. “Development?”

“Quiet, suburban place. Cute little houses. Aptly named, too, I think.”

Raising a brow, Val pulled her left hand free and considered trying the ring on. “What’s it called?”

“Sanctuary Hills.”

*****

“Do you miss him?”

Shaun’s words woke Valkyrie up from her thoughts as she stared at the grave she had buried Nate in. It had taken work, pulling the corpses of neighbors out of the Vault and burying them all on the hill’s crest. The center-most plot was where Nate’s body resided, buried and wrapped in a shroud of a damaged Minutemen flag. The volunteers who helped with the funeral thought he would have been a great soldier – after all, he had been married to their General.

“Kinda. It’s complicated,” Val said, squeezing Shaun’s hand. “Your daddy didn’t know anything about me back then. I dunno if he would have liked the kind of woman I _am_.”

“You mean someone who gave the Commonwealth hope and united settlers under the Minutemen flag? ‘Cause that’s the kind of woman you are, Mom,” Shaun said, looking up at her. “I bet he would have liked Mr. Gage, too.”

Val’s laugh was bitter and she shook her head. “I don’t know if he would... and don’t let Gage hear you call him ‘Mister.’ You might throw him off.”

“Okay.” Shaun swung their hands between them, looking at his ‘father’s’ grave site. A smaller memorial for Father had been erected beside it, crudely constructed between the two of them. Val hadn’t told Shaun why she would honor the man who had led the Institute and brought fear to the Commonwealth, not yet anyway.

Pulling from Val’s grip, Shaun laid out the bundle of Hubflowers they had brought up the hill with them, burying the stems in hope that they would take root. He knelt in the dirt, patting it around the flowers until they stood up, somewhat, on Nate’s grave.

“There. Now Dad can keep growing,” Shaun said, getting to his feet again and dusting his hands on his pants.

Val rubbed her stomach and sighed. “You’re a good kid, Shaun.” She held out a hand to him and squeezed his fingers gently when leading him back down to Sanctuary proper. “You’re gonna be a great big brother to your little sister, I think.”

“I hope so! You think we’re gonna look alike?”

“A little. You’ve got your daddy’s eyes, but my nose,” she said, picking their hands up to ‘boop’ him lightly on the tip. “Dunno what the baby will get from me and Gage.”

Shaun was quiet for a few steps until they crossed the little creek bed separating the hill from Sanctuary. He paused and looked up at Val, who stopped when she felt him tug on her hand.

“Do you think M... uh, do you think Gage will want me to call _him_ ‘Dad?’”

Val snickered and shook her head. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask him when he gets here. I mean, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to. If he gets bitchy about it, you let me know, okay?”

Shaun sighed dramatically and slumped forward, walking ahead of Val now. “I know, I know. If he does anything to hurt me. If he does anything to hurt anyone else. If he sneezes on the tatos...”

“Where’d you get so sassy from, little man?” Val asked, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “You been talking to Uncle Mason again?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, if he does sneeze on the tatos, make sure you wash’em before you eat’em. Otherwise, yeah, you tell me if there’s anything _anyone_ does that makes you scared or hurt, you got me?”

“Yes!” Shaun said, running off along the main drag as soon as they came to it, gaining ground on Valkyrie. She waddled behind, still hugely pregnant, letting him go.

*****

_“There you are. You hiding from me?” Nate slipped his arms around Val’s waist, standing behind her while they looked up at the stars. Sanctuary was close enough to Concord that the lights from town made all but the brightest stars wink out with the light pollution._

_“Never. Just... thinking...”_

“Well, don’t think too hard, Boss.” Gage placed his hands on Val’s hips, slotting himself behind her as she leaned over the railing at the Hubologist camp. “I can take your mind off of whatever’s got your attention...” he purred, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts under the shirt she had stolen from him.

“Mmm... I just was looking at the field... the fever blossoms...” Val groaned and swatted at Gage’s arms, trying to get him to cool it. Post-coital Gage was a _very_ handsy Gage indeed.

Fighting the urge to give into Gage’s advances, Val gestured out to the open field near the Hubologist camp. Fever blossoms were in bloom, setting the ground in a soft blue glow like the river of Quantum at the Bottling Plant. Still, she couldn’t help a little moan when Gage nipped at the soft skin along her shoulders.

“They look like fallen stars...”

Gage hooked his chin over her shoulder and looked out to the field. She could feel the chuckle rumble in his chest against her back. “Poetic, ain’tcha, boss?”

“Sometimes, I’m inspired.” Val turned around and pulled Gage down for a kiss. “Maybe you bring it outta me.”

*****

“HUMAN! VAL-HUMAN! STRONG RETURN!” shouted none other than, naturally, Strong.

Val sat up from her nap and stepped into her shoes, heading out of her shack to see what Strong was yelling about. She had forgotten that he “volunteered” to escort Gage to Sanctuary after the Brotherhood had dropped him at a designated meeting point. She had to bite the inside of her cheek when she saw what he was wearing.

Strong had taken at least two Minutemen flags down from Sanctuary walls, exchanging his regular battle kilt for the flags in their place. So the Brotherhood would know he was an ally, Val guessed, but sometimes she wished Strong would remember to _ask_. How did one teach a Super Mutant manners anyway? Rex Goodman just **had** to teach him _Shakespeare_ instead of politeness.

“Human! There you are! Strong bring Val-human’s mate back from bucketheads,” said Strong, spitting his discontent for the Brotherhood on the word “bucket.” Folding his arms over his broad chest, Strong lodged his first complaint of the day. “Human sure you want to mate with this one? This human scrawny.” He shoved Gage forward, and compared to Strong, Gage looked like a toothpick.

Val covered her mouth and shook with suppressed laughter, but her eyes gave her away, if Gage’s sour expression was any indication.

“Thank you, Strong, for your concern, but your opinion’s a little late. I’m gonna have a baby soon, remember?”

Strong frowned – deeper than usual – and leaned over her. “Yes. Val-human contains tiny human. Strong remember this talk. Not understand how _eat_ human means **make** human. Super Mutants not need to breed.”

“I’m aware, and thank god for that,” Val said, gesturing for Gage to come with her. “Thank _you_ for fetching him, Strong. There’s a Yao-guai strung up by the river for you. Caught it yesterday.”

Strong seemed to smile, if the grimace by which he showed all his teeth was any sort of expression to go by. “Human remember Strong’s favorite!” he said, marching off to claim his reward.

Gage released the tension in his body, nearly collapsing when Strong was gone. He dropped his rucksack at his feet and shook his head.

“Val, I know you told me about him but I didn’t think he’d actually _show up_ ,” Gage said, a hand covering his eyes. “Expected him to up and snap my neck at any second.”

“I told him he’d be banished if he hurt you. Considering how communal Super Mutants are, that’s a legit threat.” Val took Gage’s hand in both of hers and held onto it. “There’s someone you have to meet,” she said, pulling him along.

“Someone **else** in your crazy-ass entourage?”

Stepping over his bag, Gage stumbled after Val. She could feel eyes on them as settlers stopped and stared. The Brotherhood uniform was not so unusual, considering her companionship with Danse. What they were looking at was Gage himself; by now Marcy Long had made sure _everyone_ knew the father of Val’s baby was a Raider. Even with Jun begging her to mind her own business, and Sturges telling Marcy off, it still came out. Valkyrie was involved with a Raider, one who had been turning settlements against the Minutemen for the Brotherhood of Steel.

Ignoring the folks for now, Val brought Gage over to the part of Sanctuary still adorned with the old jungle gym. Other amusements built from salvaged playgrounds had been added to it over the months, with the newest addition being a spring-mounted Giddy-up Buttercup, restored by Arlen Glass and sent over from the Slog as thanks to Val. However, Shaun was sitting on his usual perch, the top of the climbing dome, a book in his lap.

“Hey, kiddo,” Val said, catching the boy’s attention. Shaun looked up and smiled at his mother, the expression fading with her company.

“Hi...” Shaun said, waving from where he sat.

“You wanna toss me your book and come down here? You know what I’ve said about meeting people,” Val asked. The book landed in her hands a moment later, with Shaun carefully climbing down to where Val stood beside Gage.

Glancing toward Gage, Val tucked the book under one arm and gestured for Shaun to come a little closer. She put her hands on his shoulders and stood behind her boy, urging him forward with a small squeeze.

“Shaun, this is the man I told you about. Porter Gage. Gage... this is Shaun. My son.”

Gage stared at the boy, his face unreadable and stony as he stared in contemplation. Shaun slowly raised a hand to Porter, understandably shy, all things considered. Still, Shaun took the initiative and greeted Gage as he had any other settler he’d met until this point.

“Pleased to meet you, sir. I’m Shaun.”

Removing a glove, Gage took Shaun’s hand and shook it, still looking the kid over with some scrutiny. “As am I, kid. You can call me Porter, or Gage, but none of this ‘sir’ business. I ain’t your superior or nothin’.” He tried for a smile but it slipped into a sneer, as if smelling something unpleasant.

Val gave Shaun back his book and let him go. “I’m gonna show Porter around Sanctuary. You keep an eye on Strong for me, okay? Don’t let him toss bear guts in the water again.” She leaned over and kissed Shaun’s forehead before gently nudging him toward the river.

“You got it, Mom.” Shaun glanced back up at Gage one more time before heading off, taking his book to a flat rock along the riverbed wall, sitting a comfortable distance from Strong. A way to “watch” the Super Mutant without getting into his space while he butchered the Yao Guai.

Turning back to Gage, Val was completely not surprised by the sour look he was giving her. She pulled out her ponytail to retie it, walking past Gage and back toward the rest of the settlement.

“I know what you’re gonna say,” she said.

“Do you? I thought-”

“That Shaun was dead.” Val turned and glared at Gage. “Shaun _is_ dead. Father... the original...” She pressed her lips together and moved away from him again. “It’s a long story. You hungry?”

Moving past him, Val headed toward her small house, the shack of her salvaged, pre-war home where she slept when staying in Sanctuary. She let Gage grab his things and get settled, busying herself at a table, making something to eat.

“I’ve already et,” Gage muttered, bringing his bag to rest against a patchwork couch. “You don’t need to see to me,” he said. Val could hear the tension in his voice, the unusual stiffness that hadn’t even been there when she passed through the Gauntlet.

_That’s because you’re in charge here. He’s got no one on his side in Sanctuary._ Val plated up a sandwich of tato and Brahmin on razorgrain bread and moved to seat herself in an armchair, away from Gage.

“Don’t mind if I eat, then?” she asked, digging in and taking her time with the first few bites. Silence fell between Val and Gage with all the weight of summer humidity, ever present and choking. Gage asked no questions while he waited for Val to eat, instead occupying his time by investigating the living room from where he sat.

“If you would rather have your own space, we’ve got spare beds. Usually a place for caravan members to take a load off,” Val offered, before washing down her sandwich with a sip of water.

Codsworth floated in from the master bedroom, his chipper voice making Gage jump. “And if you need anything, sir, please, don’t hesitate to ask!” Ignoring the way Gage stared, gawking at him, Codsworth saluted with his middle arm in greeting. “Porter Gage is it? Miss Valkyrie has told me so much about you. I do hope you’ll be staying with us, as Miss Val has been _deeply_ lonely these-”

“Codsworth, that’s enough,” Val interrupted. She could feel her face burning; Gage had a flicker of a smirk on his lips, being called out by her own butler like that.

“My apologies, mum. You do know that I worry so for you and young master Shaun,” Codsworth replied, dropping his middle eyestalk in apology. “Should I put Sir’s things in the master suite for him?”

Gage shook his head. “Don’t go callin’ me ‘sir’ or nothin’. Just ‘Gage’ suits me fine. And I can handle my own shit.”

“As you wish.” Codsworth bowed his eyestalk again and floated outside, humming merrily while attending to the bushes outside of the windowless house. Completely _not_ eavesdropping.

“Well, seems like you got yourself a nice little set up,” Gage said, leaning his back against the couch. He laced his fingers over his stomach and stretched out his legs; Val noted he had removed his suit gloves and rolled up the sleeves.

“It’s functional,” Val replied, watching him attempt to look comfortable. She’d seen him pop up from a prone position – Gage’s posture wasn’t fooling her in the slightest. “So, about Shaun, then...”

“How many lies _did_ you tell me, Val?”

“It wasn’t a lie. Shaun, the boy I gave birth to – is dead. The one you met outside, is a Synth replica.”

Gage’s smug expression fell to one of shock. “You’re kiddin’. You mean to tell me...?”

“That the Institute started replicating children? Maybe. As far as what Father – the real Shaun – told me, this one is a prototype. I don’t know if he was made to fuck with me, or just to see if they _could_ , but... I know my boy out there... even if he is a copy... is still just a kid. He’s hyper smart, and helps Sturges with mechanical repairs...” Val’s voice dropped and she sniffed, scrubbing her hand under her nose and looking away. “They both have Nate’s eyes.”

Gage wordlessly got up from the couch and crossed the room, crouching beside Val’s armchair. “Does he know what he is?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve warned off everyone who knows to not tell him until I can explain everything... he was reprogrammed to acknowledge me as his mother before we destroyed the Institute. I couldn’t just leave him, Gage...”

Taking Val’s hand, Gage pulled her to her feet and put his arms around her. “I still don’t know if this big heart of yours is a good thing or not. It’s gonna get you killed.”

“Probably,” Val said, her head resting on his shoulder. “He’s real excited to be a big brother.”

“What’re you gonna tell him when his sister gets taller than he does?”

Val pushed out of Gage’s arms and moved toward the couch, her fingertips barely with his, but he followed along all the same. She sat down with one leg tucked under herself; Gage sat beside her and let her lean into him. “He’s gonna figure something’s up when all the other kids his age start hitting puberty and he doesn’t. By then, I hope to have him understand his... condition.”

Gage draped an arm around her shoulders, his touch light as if he were unsure of where to put his hands now. “Gives you a couple years, at least.”

“Yeah...” Val pushed tighter into Gage’s side, but he just lifted his arm until she settled down again. Huffing, Val moved so she laid with her head in his lap, looking up at him like she used to do at the Fizztop. “Do you want to stay here, with me and Shaun? Maxson kicking you out was kind of a dick move.”

“I don’t think there’s an answer I can give right now that’ll satisfy you, honestly.” Gage lowered his hand to the left side of Val’s face, thumbing over the three scars running down her cheek. “I don’t wanna just say I’m tryin’ to ‘do right’ by you and the baby, because yer husband did the same to you.”

Val rolled her lips together, biting her bottom lip. _He remembered..._ she thought. Grabbing his hand, she pulled it over her mouth and kissed his fingertips. She closed her eyes and tensed, fighting a shiver of sadness that left her trembling. “That’s a wise decision. You can opt out of this at any time.”

Val felt Gage scoop his hands under her arms, dragging her up and onto his lap in an awkward scuffle as she tried to figure out his moves and assist or get away. Nearly falling into place, Val held onto Gage’s shoulders while he hooked his arms behind her back.

“I know I tend to run when shit goes south, but I’m bein’ serious when I say I want to give this a try. Very least, I’ll know what kind of man I am.”

“What kind-- the hell does that mean?”

Gage sighed and buried his head against her neck, tentatively kissing her clavicle with light pecks. His hands moved so one held onto her shoulder and the other supported her back, pulling her as close to him as he could without hurting her. “Means I’ve missed you, missed _us_ , baby.”

“And now we’re _having_ a baby,” Val chuckled, draping one arm down his back, the other cradling his head.

“I ain’t a coward. Asshole, murderer, a few other nasty things on top’a that, but I ain’t a coward. Especially not when it comes to this. To you.”

“I’m still worried that you’re only in this for the kid. Not necessarily for me.” Val ran her fingers through the short crop of Gage’s hair and dropped her nose to the top of his head. “Nate-”

“I just _said_ \--- Look, I’m not yer dead husband,” Gage snapped, pushing himself back to glare up at her. “I’m alive, and I’m here. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I never thought I’d even _be_ a father, though I might have a bastard or two out there.”

Val licked her lips and nodded, looking down. “I’m sorry... it’s just... _he’s_ been on my mind ever since I found out.” She let Gage go to hold onto her belly, feeling the baby shift and kick, making her wince. “He made all these promises to make everything okay. Brought us here. Got Codsworth upgraded with childcare protocols. Basically disowned his parents... but something just... never felt right.”

Gage sighed and rubbed his hand over her stomach. “You said you weren’t cut for the civilian life. Just did what you were supposed to, what was ‘normal.’ What’s ‘normal’ now ain’t like before, you know.”

“Yeah, I get that. I just... I think he only cared to piss off his parents, like I was the worst thing for him and that’s what he liked about me.”

Starting to laugh, Gage shook his head. “And I ain’t about the worst person for _you_? Not exactly a role model, darlin’. Unless you mean to point at me an’ go to our kid ‘See that? Yer pop’s a bad example.’”

Val chuckled as well, pressing her forehead to Gage’s and closing her eyes. “Like I’m much better. At the end of the day, I’m still a Merc.”

“Baby...” Gage sighed; Val could feel his breath on her lips. “I’m not gonna pretend like either of us is a saint, here, but you’re one hell of a woman. Far as I’ve seen, plenty of folks still got a lot of faith in you. You’ve got a lot of the Commonwealth at your back, even if the Brotherhood’s been stirring the shit.”

Opening one eye, Val peeked down at him. “I wonder whose fault that is,” she mused, giving him a little smirk.

“Don’t expect me to feel guilty about it.” Gage pulled back so he could look at her, moving one hand to her face and caressing the scar under her eye. “The Brotherhood’s getting their food so they don’t have to turn desperate and start raiding settlements. Settlers got their asses covered. You’ve got a few less places to worry about. Sounds like a good set up to me.”

Val frowned and dropped her head. “Not everyone has faith in me, then...”

Gage growled in frustration and took Val’s face in both hands, making her look up at him. “Valkyrie, if you think for one goddamned moment that you’ve gotta make everyone happy, you’re gonna put yourself in an early grave. There’s always gonna be some shithead lookin’ to take what’s yours. Thought you understood that.”

Prying his hands off her face, Val snapped back. “If I could do it once-”

“You ain’t done it _once!_ You haven’t ‘united the people’ under a single banner – if you did, you think the gangs in Nuka World would’ve been a threat to you? We would’a climbed that mountain range and asked to join up – _but we didn’t_.” Gage dropped his chin to his chest, his arms falling to his sides. “You’re gonna get yourself killed if you just try to make everyone _like_ you. S’what I’ve been tryin’ to say...” he muttered, the words catching in his throat.

“Gage...”

Sitting back, Gage started to put Val on the couch beside him. He didn’t look directly at her, but his face was red and when she caught a glimpse of his good eye, it was wet. “You ain’t listenin’...” he murmured, struggling to get to his feet.

Val caught his arm as he got up, following him in standing. “Gage, wait.”

“No, I’m not-”

“I’m not trying to argue with you.”

Gage closed his eye. He bit his bottom lip hard, but not before Val caught a glimpse of it trembling. He just shook his head and stood there. Val placed her hands on his arms and could feel him shaking.

_You know damn well I don’t like talking about feelings and shit..._

“Porter, please.” Val slid her hands up and over his shoulders, touching his face with both hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry fer _what?_ ” he grumbled, opening his eye. A single tear fell down his cheek and he sniffed, looking anywhere but at Val.

Brushing the tear from his face, Val leaned in and kissed Gage’s bottom lip, feeling him inhale sharply when she did. “I dunno. Upsetting you? Making this hard between us?”

Gage swallowed and tilted his head down just enough to red his hot cheek against hers. “You’re all I got left in this fucked up world. Don’t throw yourself out for people who don’t give a shit about you. You’ve got a lot of people who believe in what you’re trying to do, so _let them fucking do it_. Be a little selfish, let them handle their own shit. You can’t possibly do this alone.”

Val nodded and nuzzled against his cheek, feeling his stubble brush over her skin. “Well, if you’re with me, I’m not alone, right?” Gage’s arms closed around her and she slid hers over his back, clutching his shoulders. “Not gonna run?”

“If you want me to stay, I’ll stay.” Gage lifted his head looked her in the eye; Val moved to meet his gaze.

“Stay with me.”

 

Hours later, for the first time in months, Val slept evenly through the night, warm under Gage’s arm draped over her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to add Strong. :D And feelings. Lots of feelings.


	6. A Finite Loop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Val and Gage's baby Freya is born.

All Valkyrie could feel was pain. Throbbing, bone-deep, ache. A chill to her core and a tension that nearly left her body locked tight within itself. Slowly opening her eyes, the dimmed lights of Vault 81’s medical wing were still harsh, making her hiss with the burn to her retinas.

Taking a mental inventory, Val struggled to remember the hours leading up to where she was. More pain, constricting in nature but blinding in severity had wracked her body. Closing her eyes again, she remembered the contractions, screaming – her throat was raw and dry.

Focusing further, she felt the pinprick burn of a needle in her forearm. Irrational fear fought with conventional wisdom on ripping the damn thing out, however, the exhaustion in her muscles prevented her from doing much of anything. Wisdom won by default, and the needle stayed.

Opening her eyes again, Val shifted as much as she could to take in the room; an IV was hooked into her arm, a supply of blood dripping into a clear tube.

Flinching, Val recalled a memory; the words were complicated and urgent surrounding her. Dr. Forsythe calling for Stimpaks. Curie demanding Val stay conscious. Porter shouting, demanding answers before being dragged away. A feeling of drifting, falling, fading, then nothingness.

_Did I die?_ Val asked herself, the weight of her own eyelids made blinking a chore. Coughing, Val cleared her dry throat and attempted to speak. Beside her leg, she felt a warmth disappear with a sudden jolt as Gage jarred awake by the noise.

“Val!” he exclaimed, getting to his feet. He leaned over her, his shadow consuming the light before she felt warm, dry lips against the cold numbness of her own. Val weakly kissed back, flinching as pain ran through her face.

“What happened?” Val whispered as soon as he gave her air.

Gage stood up straighter; gone were the simple clothes he had brought to Vault 81 when they had arrived for Val’s last month of pregnancy. He wore scrubs – real scrubs – in their place. Val looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

“You almost died. You were in labor, then somethin’ went wrong and you were just... layin’ there...” Gage licked his lips, choking on his words. “They had to operate.”

“Oper- the baby?!” Val felt a surge of panic and tried to sit up. Every screaming muscle and a gentle hand from Gage put a stop to that. “Is she okay?”

“Val, she’s fine. **You** were the one I... _we_ almost lost.”

Valkyrie struggled to remember the labor. It had been intense, the pain in her body, the utter weakness after each attempted push... Raising her free hand to her forehead, she pressed her fingers against her eyelids as she tried to make the recollection. On her skin, she could faintly smell medical soap residue.

“What happened?” Val croaked, dropping her heavy arm. Even lifting it was an ordeal.

Gage pulled his chair up closer to where he could meet her eye – his patch was gone; someone had put medical tape over the damaged socket to keep it closed.

“Gage?” Val prompted, when he wouldn’t answer right away.

Rubbing his palms together, Gage’s head dropped and he sighed. “You started to bleed out. Some complication, dunno the word Forsythe used when everything went to shit... Preston had to drag me out with security. I really don’t do well with losin’ shit...” Gage tried to laugh; it sounded like a cough. “You were gone for a whole minute before they pulled you back. Had to operate, they said. Got yourself another scar...” He cleared his throat, looking up, not at – but over – Val.

“You’re not going to be able to have another kid.”

Val stared at Gage for a moment before settling back in her bed, some tension draining from her limbs. He started to get up when she relaxed, scared, perhaps, that she was flatlining.

All she said was: “Huh.”

“That all? I mean, don’t you...?” Gage made an odd gesture with his hand; Val read it and his tone for the unasked question it was. She flicked her eyes to Gage and scoffed, all the energy she would need to joke gone.

“Gage, I don’t know if we’ve met, but I’m not exactly the mothering type. Hell, I don’t even know what I’m doing with Shaun.” Still, she lifted her free hand and ghosted it over her stomach; thick gauze padded her pelvic area. “I don’t even know what we’re gonna do with this one,” she amended, quieter.

Gage sat down again, shaking his head. “You’re not upset,” he stated, folding his arms over his chest. “Forsythe thought you’d be cryin’ over not being able to have more kids.”

Snorting, Val rolled her eyes and turned just enough to see Gage. “I’m fine with stopping. Hell, this will fix some other problems that come with being a woman in the Wasteland – I hope.” Lolling her head around, Val scoped the room, the action making her dizzy. “Where _is_ the baby, anyway?”

“Curie’s got her. Observation and all that.”

“You name her while I was out?” Val asked, settling her head back so she looked up at the ceiling.

Gage was silent beside her, and for a moment, Val wondered if he’d picked out something dumb in the heat of the moment. Instead, he replied: “Wanted to know you’d wake up, first.”

“How thoughtful,” Val snickered, glancing toward Gage. “If I died, would you have raised her?”

More silence. Enough so that when Gage opened his mouth again, Val could hear his lips part. “I dunno. I might’a just left her in care of these folks, or let Garvey do it. I ain’t cut out to be a father. Especially if she grew up lookin’ like you.”

This time, Valkyrie fell quiet, pressing her lips together to keep from blurting out something foolishly optimistic. She wanted to tell him he was tougher than that, that he would mourn and get over it and hell, maybe even be a great father, but it sounded too much like Nate in her own mind.

_You’ll do great, honey. You’re just scared_.

“I’m sorry, Porter,” was what she said instead, looking at the ceiling.

“ _Sorry_? The hell you sorry fo-”

“For treating you like Nate treated me.”

Gage laughed, confused. “Say again?”

“You heard me.” Val paused, and when Gage let her continue, she did. “I had nothing left. My livelihood was taken out from underneath me. I got in with a good guy, someone I was no good for, and drove him away from his family because he just wanted to be with me – so he said. I didn’t have anything then, and he had enough for the two of us. Sound familiar yet?” Val’s hands flexed in the blanket over her legs, fingers gripping and releasing the linen. “A kid came into the picture, and away we go, to Sanctuary.”

“Val, I’mma stop you right there.” Gage appeared in Val’s line of sight, his arm bracing him on the side of the bed so he could look overto her. “Granted, a lot of shit’s similar. We both lost a lot, we both hooked up with someone we’re _wildly_ bad for, and yeah, maybe some of your friends ain’t too happy with me bein’ around. But, lemme ask you somethin’,” he paused, and Val rolled her head to the side to look at him.

“Did your husband ever give you the chance to leave? Before, you know... gettin’ hitched and whatnot?”

Val blinked, slow and heavy. Just trying to remember was exhausting. “...No. He was pretty insistent that I’d be okay...”

“He never shoved a wad of bills in your hand, gave you a gun and said ‘good luck’ to ya? Never gave you an out?”

“Ye- _no_ , but, I mean, you never really left-”

“Baby, I up and joined the Brotherhood out of _spite_.” Gage smirked and reached over, smoothing some loose hairs away from her face. She nuzzled into the warmth of his fingers, still fairly cold from the blood loss. If he kept stroking her hair like that, she could fall asleep again...

“Can’t say I tried to join the Russians before crawling back to him,” Val chuckled, then she started to cough and winced with every spasm. “Ugh...”

“I never _crawled_ back to you. I got put on mandatory leave.”

“What do you call showing up at Tenpines bluff? You were at every settlement, hoping I’d show up, weren’t you?” Val smirked at Gage.

“I plead the fourth.”

“You’re against illegal government searches? I mean, _same_ , honestly-” Val teased, cut off from further jokes by Gage’s hand over her mouth.

“Yer too much, sometimes, darlin’. You know what I meant.” He paused, his expression growing serious, and Val raised her eyebrows to try to convey her confusion. “You said you were never sure he, your husband, really cared about you, yeah?”

Val nodded, humming under his hand. When he removed it, Val elaborated. “I said he was pretty insistent. Sometimes I wondered if I was a novelty, or he just **needed** to love someone... like I was more his pet than his wife.”

“I don’t think you’re doin’ that to me. Of all the shit we been through... I believe you.” Gage flushed pink under the dim lights and glanced toward the door. They were still alone, their conversation not drawing any attention. “I believe you care about me. Else... you wouldn’t have let me go.”

“Take you that long to figure me out?” Val teased. She reached for his hand and Gage took it, letting her squeeze his fingers. “I wanted to give you a chance. Wanted you to know you weren’t my prisoner... knew you couldn’t love me if I just held too tight...” Val yawned and closed her eyes. Gage echoed her yawn; Val peeked up at him through one eye.

“I don’t care what Forsythe says...” Gage muttered. He let Val’s hand go to fiddle with the side frame to the bed and climbed up beside Val, pulling her against him.

Flinching, Val struggled to give him space in the bed, unable to move her body much with the pain killers in her system. “Easy there, cowboy,” she grumbled. “Don’t go popping my stitches.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Just... I’m gonna stay right here, alright?”

Val’s heart clutched in her chest, just enough to make the monitor beside her register the anomaly before returning to normal. Swallowing hard, Val nodded. “Sure, Porter. Keep me warm.”

Once they were settled, Val tucked her head under Gage’s chin, her hand in his. She drifted off to sleep, a tear escaping her eye as her body relaxed. She felt happy.

 

“Wake up, Val.”

No response.

“Val?”

Gage jostled her shoulder.

“Val, c’mon, get up already.”

Val laid in bed, unmoving.

“Suit yourself.”

Gage left the bed, returning minutes later and placing a soft, warm lump on Val’s chest. The “lump” smacked Val in the face with small hands and wriggled forward in an uncoordinated attempt at moving.

Val woke with a snort at being smacked, sitting up as she pried baby Freya off her chest, cradling her infant daughter in her arms. “At least you changed her this time,” Val grumbled, still groggy from sleep as she started to feed Freya for the morning.

“Gave her a bath, too.” Val pried one eye open to see Gage standing over her, proud of himself, with his arms folded over his chest. “But there’s one thing I still can’t do, so I gotta get _your_ lazy ass up for it.”

Val groaned and dropped her head down. Freya was feeding without issue, looking up at her with green eyes, just like her daddy. “If her first words are ‘lazy ass’ I’m gonna kick yours.”

Gage chuckled and circled the bed, sinking onto his side carefully so as to not dislodge Freya. She had already scratched Val up a few times that week for similar reasons; no need to give Val even _more_ scars. He gently stroked the top of Freya’s head as he watched.

“You got something on your mind, Porter? You’re unusually complaint-free this morning,” Val said, adjusting Freya as the baby fed.

“We been here over a month. You’re healed. I’m goin’ stir crazy.” Gage moved closer and Val leaned into his shoulder. “You can’t be feelin’ comfortable in this death trap.”

“You wanna go out there? Back to Sanctuary?” Val asked, looking away from Gage. “It’s not-”

“Baby, it ain’t ever gonna _be_ safe, but people been having and raising kids out there during your frosty nap.” Gage slipped his arm across Val’s lower back and pulled her just a little closer. “I ain’t saying I got high hopes, but hell, I’ve lived this long out there...”

Val looked up and kissed Gage’s jaw, sighing against his neck. “See, that’s why I have faith in you, Porter.”

“Scuse me?” Gage slid back and looked down at Val, his eyebrows raised. “Faith?”

“You heard me.” Val smiled up at him, hesitating for a moment, to make the gravity of what she would say next more palpable. “I think you’re going to be a great father.”

Gage sniffed and looked away, turning his blind side to her and rubbing under his nose. “Makes you say that?” he asked, a tightness to his voice.

“Because you know what it’s like to have shitty parents. Don’t think you’d put Freya through that.” Val shuffled around in bed as best she could, reaching out and putting a hand on Gage’s arm. “You protect what’s yours.”

A moment of silence passed.

“I ain’t thought about them in decades,” Gage muttered. “Been thinkin’ about them a lot lately. Since she was born. Since you _told_ me I was gonna be a dad.” Gage cleared his throat and turned back to Val. His eye was red and wet. “When I first held her, I said to myself: I ain’t gonna be like them. I mean, I know I said if I’d lost you, I’d-”

“-I know.” Val pulled on Gage’s shoulder; he turned inward and held onto her, pressing a kiss to her temple. “But, that’s why I have faith in you. You want the best for her.”

Gage scoffed, trying to laugh. “How come you know me better than I do?”

“I wasn’t just a sniper, you know. I used to be a spy.” Val pulled Freya free and covered herself up again. She held the baby up and Gage leaned down to kiss her forehead. “You’re gonna do great.”

 

“Oh my gosh, Blue! Is that her? Can I hold her?” Piper squealed when she met Valkyrie outside of Vault 81, a week later. Piper insisted on being part of the escort that got Valkyrie’s family safely back to Sanctuary. “She’s got mama’s dark hair, and oh-” Piper gasped when Val passed the little girl over to her arms, baby Freya glowering up and under Piper’s hat. “Green eyes,” Piper finished, swiping her own gaze in a none-too-subtle look Gage’s way.

“Whose kid did you think I had?” Val chuckled, greeting the Minutemen who volunteered to guard their General.

“Dunno, sunshine, but she’s quite the cutie. Takes after her mother,” said another familiar voice, coming from the front of the escort. Mayor Hancock swaggered closer, keeping safe distance from Piper, getting just close enough to see the baby. “Heya, Val.”

“John!” Val put on a firm smile, taking Freya back from Piper’s grip when the infant started to squirm in a stranger’s arms. “Didn’t know you were coming along for the ride.”

“Ain’t seen ya in months. Figured I needed to take another walk. Things get too quiet in Goodneighbor if I’m hanging out all the time. Thought they needed another shakeup.” Hancock kept a good arm’s length between himself and Val; uncertain of his Rad levels, he got close enough to look, but not touch the baby. “Seems you’ve been doing plenty of it without me, sister.”

Val’s smile turned more to a baring of teeth and she stepped into Gage’s space, backing away from Hancock. “John, if you’re gonna give me shit about-”

“What? Me? Fuck, no. I’m not the lecturing type, dollface. I just... wanted to meet the happy couple in person, threaten the groom. You know, the usual.”

Val’s posture slumped and she shook her head. “We’re not engaged, Hancock.”

“And I’ve been threatened enough, Mr. Mayor,” Gage added, placing a hand on Val’s shoulder while Hancock circled the pair of them like a vulture. “So, say your piece or shut the fuck up and let’s get movin’. Daylight only lasts so long this time of year.”

“Okay, okay,” Hancock said. He raised his hands in a placating gesture, shaking his head. “No need to get bitchy. I’m really happy for you, Val. I mean it. Love’s not an easy thing to get here in the Commonwealth, harder to hang onto.”

Val frowned, shuffling on her feet. She looked over her shoulder at Gage, who shrugged at her, offering no input. Looking back at Hancock, Val took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to five.

“Thank you, John.”

Hancock smiled, reached up to tip his hat, and nodded. “Of course, doll. Blood ain’t ever been bad between us, just remember that, okay? Now, let’s get this party rollin’. Daylight’s precious.”

 

Hours later, halfway to Sanctuary, the entourage stopped by in Graygarden. Freya needed to be changed and fed, and after a scuffle with Super Mutants between there and Vault 81, everyone was shaken up. The gardener bots paid them little mind, and the few settlers who had joined up to pitch in made room for the group.

Settled down by the fire pit, Val hummed softly while Freya snoozed in her arms. Gage crouched nearby, too wound up from his latest brush with death to sit still. Hancock and Piper flopped on the other side, watching the flames.

Gage turned to Hancock, pivoting on the balls of his feet. “Were you serious about threatening me, earlier?” he asked.

Hancock huffed and blew cigarette smoke down wind, chuckling. “Hell no. Well, maybe, about three hours ago. But, you held your own pretty well back there. Good to know Val’s got a tough guy watching her back.”

“Uh huh.” Gage nodded. Val nudged him with her elbow.

“Don’t instigate,” she warned, whispering over the baby. “I literally just got her to sleep.”

“Blue, why don’t you get some rest, huh? You’re gonna need it for the second half,” Piper said, gesturing toward the small shack the settlers had built. “At least some quiet,” she amended.

“I think I will.” Val got up to her feet, nudging Gage with the toe of her boot. “Seriously, don’t start with him.”

Gage held both his hands up. “I ain’t doin’ nothing.”

Hancock smirked, leaning back on his palms. “You’re paranoid, sunshine. Go take your little bundle and get a nap in, too. We’ll be right out here.”

Val glanced between the two of them, not trusting either man to keep to his word, but nodded. “Fine. If I have to break up a fight, though...”

“You won’t.” The fact that they seemed to answer in _unison_ had Val even more skeptical of their treaty. Both Gage and Hancock had been making comments toward the other, once Gage figured out Val’s romantic history with the mayor. It was nothing she was ashamed of, except for Val’s role in killing Fahrenheit. It had been her own conscience eating at her that caused Val to break it off before they were in too deep. Before the guilt ate her alive.

_The fact that he’s here now, says something, doesn’t it?_ Val thought, settling Freya down on a borrowed sleeping bag. She folded her legs underneath herself and sat once more, watching the baby sleep.

About fifteen minutes passed before she heard shouting, Gage and Hancock’s voices carrying through clearly. Val groaned and got back to her feet.

“-All I said was that you’d better not skip on her. _Christ_ ,” Hancock snapped, held back by Piper’s hand on his chest.

“You think I’m just gonna leave **now**? After all we been through?” Gage snarled back, Piper’s other hand holding him back as well.

“You left her before, didn’t ya? Minutemen said-”

“She released me from prison-”

“-that _she_ put you in!”

Piper pushed them both back and glared at Hancock. “Are you nuts? You **trying** to break them up?”

Hancock folded his arms over his chest and looked away. “I’m just making sure they’re talking. Don’t know what their relationship’s like.”

“Exactly! You don’t know shit about _us_ , so go fuck yourself!” Gage yelled, Piper putting both her hands on his chest to keep him from getting in Hancock’s face.

Valkyrie strode up to the three of them, her hands on her hips. “Fifteen fucking minutes, and you’re at each other’s throats. What did it? Hancock tell you _how_ we used to fuck?” She looked at Gage. “He tell you I put on a pretty dress for him?” She glared at Hancock. “Out with it.”

When both of them refused to answer, Valkyrie looked at Piper. “What was it?”

Piper took her hands off of Gage and sighed. “Hancock made a jab at Gage being a Raider. Tried to insinuate that...” she trailed off, looking toward Hancock.

“I said he fucked up a good thing,” John admitted, dropping his defensive posture. “I said he tried to make you into a shitty person, sunshine...”

Val scoffed and looked at the ground. “I _am_ a shitty-”

“NO!” Piper, Hancock and Gage all shouted at once when Val started her self-deprecating remark, making her jump in surprise. All three of them looked at each other, then started laughing. Val looked back and forth, and eyebrow raised.

“All it takes is me shitting on myself and you three are all peaches and cream now?” she asked, an embarrassed heat crawling up to her cheeks.

Hancock removed his hat and slid a hand over his bare scalp. “Look, sunshine, I’ll admit, I’m a little jealous of Porter, here.”

“Gage. Only _she_ gets to call me Porter,” Gage muttered, interrupting.

“Fine, fine.” Hancock waved his hand in dismissal. “I _had_ hoped you and I still had a chance, is all. You’re still out there, bustin’ skulls of assholes and doing a damn fine job of it. Figured we were still on the same page.”

Val sighed and touched Hancock’s shoulder. She stole the hat from his hands and turned it over in hers. “We’re still in the same book, at least. Just... I’m on the next chapter.” Flicking dust off the antique tricorner, she put it back on Hancock’s head, a wan smile on her face.

Piper grinned, rocking on the balls of her feet. “Loving the literary metaphors, Blue. Seriously, though, are you guys good? I don’t want to mother two guys **older** than me this whole trip.”

Hancock smirked and held out his hand. “I still don’t like you, but that ain’t my problem. We can be pals, right?”

Gage looked down at Hancock’s outstretched hand and frowned. He shook, grumbling, “We don’t need to like each other. Just keep the other one alive.”

“Fine by me,” Hancock agreed, adding, “Now give us a kiss” before pulling Gage closer by his trapped hand.

Shoving Hancock off him, Gage made a face. “Eugh, _no_. I’m good. Relatively speaking.” From the shack, Freya’s plaintive wail sounded, and Gage held his hands up. “I’ll take care of her. Do my part,” he said, backing away from Valkyrie.

When he was out of sight, Val pinched the bridge of her nose, drawing in a long breath.

“Sunshine-” Hancock started.

“Don’t.” Val put her hand in his face. “You calling me pet names all day has not helped things.”

Piper folded her hands behind her back. “I told you she wasn’t going to be happy with you coming along.”

Val pointed at her and frowned. “Don’t you start, either. I want us all to be _allies_ , if we can’t be friends.” She turned to Hancock, taking him by the shoulders. “No, you _don’t_ have to like Gage. I don’t know why you still like _me_ , but can you please check your anger?”

Hancock pushed Val’s hands off him and pushed into her space, taking his hat of so he could look up at her properly.

“You don’t know? Sweetheart, I thought you and me were gonna make things good around here. Make it so people could live free, without hurting each other. Booze, chems, whatever, just so people can survive this shitty little world. Then, it gets back to me that you’ve shacked up with a Raider-”

“We’d been broken up-”

“I know!” Hancock’s arms fell at his sides and he drooped, defeated. “I know. I worried that I’d burned my chances, yeah, but I thought... I got scared that you’d gone dark side. Just decided ‘fuck it’ since... the Institute...”

Valkyrie bridged her hands behind her neck and looked down, shaking her head. “For a little while, I thought about it. Being friends with Cait... she didn’t exactly encourage me to be a beacon of hope... I just kind of.. needed to blow off steam... I had – _fuck_ , I didn’t have any control in Nuka World. Just people who liked the way I was doing things.” She let her hands go and wrapped her arms around Hancock’s frame, pulling him against her chest. “I’m sorry.”

Hancock put his arms up and over Val’s back, hugging her in return. “Don’t be sorry, Val. You know, I get it. Being a leader, trying to do the right shit by your people...”

Val chuckled and stood upright, still close enough for Hancock to hang onto. “Havin’ to take a break when you realize you’re not as hot shit as you think you are? Dunno how you can relate.”

Pulling away from her, Hancock put his hat back on his head and scrubbed his hand across what remained of his nose. “I know you got a good heart, though. If you really went off the deep end, we’d be having this conversation at gun point.” He looked up at Val, and shook his head. “Because I don’t think I’d be able to handle a Commonwealth with you playin’ Raider Queen or some shit like that. I mean, I’d get it, and I’d really hate to put a bullet in your head, but...”

“I know. ‘Plenty of folks wanna make life hard for people just tryin' to survive. I'm not willing to stand for that kinda shit,’” Val mimicked him with a smile, doing a terrible impression of Hancock as she did so. “I think if I ever did go Dark Side, you or Preston would put me down right.”

Hancock lifted the corner of his mouth in a half-hearted smile. “Wouldn’t make you suffer, that’s for sure. I’m a ghoul, not a monster.”

 

Val rejoined Gage in the settler’s shack, leaning just inside the door frame while Gage had his back to her. Rocking on the balls of his feet, Gage murmured quietly to their baby, who still seemed to be awake and fussing in Gage’s arms.

“C’mon, baby girl, you need to get some sleep or your mama’s gonna kill me.”

“Won’t kill you, Porter, but I appreciate you thinking about me,” Val said. She pushed off the frame when Gage turned at the sound of her voice, approaching quietly. Freya looked up at her mother with a wobbling lip, not crying but not getting to sleep, either.

“Probably woke up, wonderin’ where the hell you were and it scared her...” Gage suggested, adjusting his hold on the baby.

Val chuckled and lightly stroked the top of Freya’s head. “Too bad we don’t have Redeye on radio anymore. His dumbass stories always put _me_ to sleep.”

Gage laughed. “Or his singing would make her cry. Dunno which would be better. Least if he made her cry, I could kick his ass with good reason.”

“Redeye being Redeye is reason enough...” Val trailed, a thought occuring to her. “I could try to sing...” She cleared her throat. “ _What if there was a place with all th-”_

“Absolutely **not**. You are _not_ gettin’ the Nuka Cola song stuck in my head,” Gage interrupted. “What about yer Pip-boy?”

Val cringed. “Diamond City Radio would be okay – _if_ Travis didn’t have freakouts on air. One shriek from him, and she’ll get upset again.”

Gage groaned and rolled his head back, stretching out stiff muscles. He drew in a long breath and when he brought his head down again, his eye was closed.

Val’s mouth dropped open in surprise when Gage started singing, very soft, practically a breath with the roughness of his voice, but the song was still there.

_“First time I ever saw you, was down at the beach by Revere-”_

Supressing a giggle, Val grinned. “Are you serio-”

Gage glared at her for a moment, but didn’t stop. _“Through a thick black haze of fire and smoke, things suddenly seemed so clear...”_ He gestured with his head; Freya yawned, blinking up at her father, appearing to listen.

_“Baby, quit raidin’ my heart,”_ Val chimed in, too high and run through with amusement, but it was **working.** _“_ _Y_ _ou took all I had and left me, I can’t stand being apart..._ ”

Their impromptu duet slowed down and dropped into a whisper as Freya finally nodded off in Gage’s arms. Through a slow and awkward ballet of limbs, they succeeded in getting Freya back onto her makeshift bed, complete with little blanket. They managed to escape outside, the shack door closed until just a beam of light fell inside, leaving her to get some sleep.

Once outside, Val dragged Gage into a kiss, grinning at him. “Well done, cowboy. Gonna make you sing more often.”

Gage flushed pink and hid an embarrassed smile by turning his head; Val still caught it, following him when he turned. “Only in private. You put me up on stage, and I _will_ leave you.”

“Pfft, you wouldn't make it a day without me,” Val teased, pulling him in for another kiss.

A loud, obvious clearing of someone’s throat had them pulling away from each other, just to glare – in sync with each other – at the offending parties.

Piper, Hancock, and a couple of the Minutemen were all making faces at them – from Piper’s affectionate smile, to various forms of disgust on the rest. “You guys wanna.... cool it?” Piper asked, grinning. “There’s civilians here.”

Val stuck her tongue out. “It’s fifty caps for watching-”

“And a hundred to participate,” Gage finished. Val glanced up at him with her brow raised. “What? We got a child to raise. Kids ain’t cheap.”

Hancock was the first to burst out laughing. “I can see why you like this guy, sunshine. Any man willing to whore himself out to keep his baby fed is all right in my books.”

Val slipped out of Gage’s arms and lightly socked Hancock in the shoulder. “Yeah, I think I’ll keep him. He’s good people, even if he don’t think so himself.”

 

Val missed the stunned look on Gage’s face when she said that; he was quieter the rest of the trip to Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ho-lee-crap it has been a rough and busy couple of months. I planned to have this out sooner, but life got in the way.


	7. Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gage freaks out a bit, Val reassures him. In Diamond City, they meet up with an old friend.

When Valkyrie had said Porter Gage was a good man, she had meant it. He kept his promise to stay with her, he helped take care of their infant daughter. In fact, he began to try so hard to make good on his word around Sanctuary, Val began to wonder if he was freaking out.

Gage helped Sturges do odd jobs around the settlement, including breaking down a wall of her old house to make space for Freya and Shaun to have their own rooms. He took watch at guard posts, helped Carla unload wares when she visited, and did repairs to the garden when a nasty rad storm swept through the Commonwealth. All things to keep his hands busy and his time occupied, until he slunk home at the end of the night just to pass out in bed beside Val or on the couch.

Val let Gage go on like this for a while – until he volunteered to take on a task for the Minutemen. When he announced that he would be going out to the Abernathy Farm, Val decided it was enough. She caught Gage as he hammered away at part of the wall around Sanctuary, where he’d been helping Sturges fix some loose planks. She came up behind him while he was down on one knee, catching his hammer when he paused to pick up a nail.

“Okay, out with it,” Val said. She straddled his thigh and sat on his knee against the wall.

“Out with what?” Gage snapped. He reached for his hammer; Val threw it over the fence. A moment later, a distinct “bloop” told them both that it had hit the river.

“That wasn’t mine, boss,” Gage rumbled, frowning.

Val raised both eyebrows and pretended to be shocked. “Ooh, calling me ‘boss’ again. Kinky. We gonna play Raiders tonight or are you gonna make yourself scarce again?”

Gage looked skyward and closed his eye, taking a long breath instead of snapping at Val. “I ain’t making myself scarce. I’m doin’ good.”

“Are you? Because it feels like you’re avoiding us. You know. Me and Freya and Shaun? Your family.” Val grabbed Gage’s shoulders and pulled him forward, trying to get him to look her in the eye. “If you want out, just say it.” Val paused, looking him dead in the eye. “I’m not gonna shoot you for telling the truth.”

Gage cupped his hands over his mouth and leaned closer, until his forehead was against Val’s. He waited there a moment and then reached around, pulling Val’s hands off his shoulders and brought them to his lips, kissing the backs of her hands.

“Porter?”

“Val, I don’t want out.”

“Then what-?”

“I wanna be the man you seem to think I am.”

Val snorted and tried to pull her hands away. “Well... mission accomplished, I guess.”

Gage let her go and pulled his leg out from under Val, leaving her to fumble awkwardly in the dirt as she scrambled to find her footing again. He helped her up from the ground, stepping back as she stood.

“You said I was ‘a good man.’”

“You’ve said I’m a good woman...?” Val hedged, trying to see Gage’s point. “I’m pretty sure you are-”

“I’m a Raider, Val. Don’t that mean anything?”

Val clapped her hands in front of herself, looking up at him. “You _were_ a Raider. You’ve also taken a shit. Both things are in the past, right?”

Gage snorted at her analogy and shook his head. “I knew you wouldn’t take this seriously.”

“I _am_. Which is why I’m here before you run away again.” Val stepped forward and reached out, touching his arm. He flinched and pulled away, then dropped his head and wavered closer. Sighing, Val put her arms around his waist and leaned into him. “You got something to prove?”

“I dunno... do I?” Gage pushed her back and stuck his arms out. “You lock me up because you want me to join you. You let me go.”He waved off behind himself. “You pull me back in.” He balled up a fist and brought it to his heart. “You tell me I’m a good man, but I just-” His arms fell at his sides, his whole body slumped forward.

Val folded her arms and shook her head. “You just don’t think you’re good enough for us.” She reached out again, linking her hands behind his neck. “Porter, you’ve done a lot more than I honestly expected of you – and I’m glad that you’re here. What else do you think you need?”

Gage turned his head and thumbed his nose. “I’m trying to be good enough for _you_.”

Val gaped and shook her head. “You’re shitting me. You have to be. Not good enough? Porter, look where you _are_.” She opened her arms, turning to encompass the settlement around them. “We have a daughter. You’re... sort of with the Brotherhood, I guess.” She brought her hands to rest in the middle of his chest. “I just want you here. You don’t have to play hero to impress me, or anyone else.”

Dropping his head, Gage nodded. “Right.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one. “Don’t gotta be better than the woman who saved the Commonwealth.”

Val put a hand over her eyes, biting her tongue at the bitterness in his voice. “Porter, I swear to God...” She took a step back and moved her hand to her mouth, picking her next words carefully.

“I don’t think you understand why I love you.” She dropped her arms and slowly approached. Porter blew out a line of smoke, his blind eye toward her. “You never put expectations on me. You wanted me to be the boss, I was the boss. You wanted me to take the Raiders out of Nuka World – hell, I did that too. You asked me to do something and I did it, but you never claimed I was something _more_. A hero.”

Gage dropped his cigarette butt and snuffed it under his boot. “I hear’em talk, you know.” He turned, looking at her. “More than that bitch Marcy thinks I’m just gonna cause trouble for you. Like I’m gonna scoop you up and take you off to my evil Raider lair or some shit.”

Val grinned and touched his chin with her fingertips, making him look her in the eye. “Instead, I captured _you._ Had to let you go, but reeled you back in with the power of baby?”

Snorting, Gage closed his hands around hers and bowed his head, kissing her knuckles. “I did miss you. Never ‘broke up’ with someone before. Never knew how much it meant to have you around in the first place.” He took a deep breath and a step forward, pressing their foreheads together. “’Specially after you started opening up to me... you had no reason to let on about all the shit weighin’ you down, and yet you chose to tell _me_.”

“You’re a good listener.” Val smiled and put her hands on his wrists, tugging on his arms. “So, you like m being just as fucked up as you are.”

Grinning, Gage pulled his arms, making her embrace him. “Don’t hurt that your ass looks great in a Vault Suit.”

“Uh-huh.” Val dropped her head on his shoulder. “When I say you’re a good man, I mean it. You’re doing your best. You don’t have to make up for the shit you did before.”

“Not trying to do that, honestly,” Gage sighed. “I just wanna be good **enough** for you.” Val squeezed his waist, and he chuckled, dropping a light kiss on her shoulder. “I mean it. I lose you again, I... I ain’t got much else. Three’s my limit.”

Val lifted her head and frowned at him. “Three? I only almost died the once, and taking the park-”

Gage rubbed her arms and shook his head. “No, honey. When you passed out in that damn spaceship.”

“That doesn’t count. It was just a blackout.”

“I know that – _now_. But when I saw you layin’ there, dead bodies all around...” Gage closed his eye and soldiered on with his thought. “That moment between thinkin’ you were gone, and knowing you weren’t... it felt like the goddamn end of the world. Dragging you back, alive, to the Hub. That’s when I realized I was fucked.”

Val’s smile was soft. She reached up and pulled Gage down so they were forehead to forehead. “Oh, sweetie...” Gage had said all this before, that same night. She didn’t think he’d bring it up again.

“Just don’t want you to turn me away. I can’t take it.” The crack in his voice made Val pull him into a hug, her hands rubbing circles on his back.

“Won’t do that, babe. You’d have to _really_ fuck up to get me to kick you out.” Val stood back enough to look up at him once more. “You know me. I don’t give up easily. Besides,” she added, poking him in the chest. “It would only make Marcy right, and I’d rather shoot myself than let her be _right_ about my Raider boyfriend.”

Gage hummed at that and rubbed where she poked him. He looked away again, seeming to examine his surroundings. “Yeah. Your boyfriend,” he muttered.

“Yeah?” Val leaned forward and poked him again. “You don’t like that word? I could call you my bitch.” She grinned, but Gage’s expression was vacant – amused, but vacant. “You totally just checked out of this conversation.”

Shaking himself, Gage put an arm around Val’s waist and pulled her close, dropping a kiss on her mouth unexpectedly. “Nah, just... Thanks, darlin’.” At her questioning look, Gage continued. “You know how to smooth me out, ‘fore I do something foolish.”

“You? Foolish? Never.” Giving him another quick peck on the lips, Val pulled Gage by the hand, away from the fence and onto Sanctuary’s main road back to their home.

 

Settling in anywhere is always awkward in the first few weeks. It took Val well over a month to feel even slightly at home in Sanctuary Hills before the war. It still felt strange to call Sanctuary home when she helped rebuild it as a settlement. However, with friends behind her, and Gage at her side, Val started to feel like she belonged in the post-war Wasteland.

 

“Go on! Get out! You have not paid tab for weeks! _Bobrov_ not mean ‘charity!’ Get lost, stop bothering customers!” shouted Vadim, throwing a man out onto the alley. Val shook her head and pushed Gage and Shaun (and by extension, Freya, who Gage carried on his arm) toward Takahashi’s noodle stand.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever man! Fuck you guys! Your booze is shit anyway!” yelled the drunk in return, turning around and nearly knocking Freya out of Gage’s grip.

“What where you’re goin’, you sonuva-” Stopping short, Gage stared down at the man who’d run into them. “Shit... Redeye?” Behind him, Val cut off a chuckle.

Redeye looked up and beamed bright. “Holy shit! Well, Porter Gage, live and in person! Wh-whoa, what the hell, man? Almost didn’t recognize you with the hair...” Redeye leaned into Gage’s space, getting a better look at the infant scowling up at the stranger. “You steal a kid? I mean, we’re...” Redeye looked around and whispered conspiratorially, “We’re Raiders, but that’s low, man, even for you.”

“Red...” Gage groaned. Val pressed her face between his shoulders and stifled her laughter. Clearly, Redeye was not very observant.

“Gage, who is that?” asked Shaun, holding onto the ex-Raider’s hand.

“Jeeeeeeeeeees-us, man! You’ve got a boy, too? The hell? You hook up with a widow?” Redeye whispered, “She gotta sister?” before crouching in front of Shaun, making a goofy face and failing to make Shaun laugh. "You need an uncle little man? I can hook you up with some craaaaazy fuckin' bedtime stories."

Shaun tucked behind Gage’s legs and shook his head.

Gage cleared his throat and thrust his knee at Redeye’s face, prompting him to stand again.

“Shaun ain’t quite _mine_ , but the baby girl’s my daughter,” he said, with a grave seriousness that made Redeye’s drunken state sober up. “The boy’s Val’s.”

Staring and blinking for a few moments, Redeye struggled to place the name. “Val? I don’t know no ‘Val,’ man. You have a kid now... Shit...” He pinched the bridge of his nose and when he looked up again, Val had stepped into his view.

“You forgot about me already, Russell? I’m hurt...”

Jumping back dramatically, Redeye grabbed at his chest like he’d been shot. “Hol-y _shit_! You hooked up with the Overboss? For real? I thought that was just-- wait, she fuckin’ sold us out, man- She busted up Nuka World!”

“Red, calm down,” said Val, raising her hands to try to placate him. “You’re drawing the attention of the guards.

“No! Fuck the both of you! We had a good thing! We were gonna be huge! And you ruined that shit!” Redeye backed up, right into the oncoming DC Security behind him. “Fuckin’ traitors! Both of you!” Redeye spat and howled, even as the security wrestled him to the ground.

“That was dramatic,” Val deadpanned, watching DC security wrangle Redeye and try to haul him away. “I feel kinda bad, though. He looks like hell.”

“He always looked like that. You just never got to see him in person.” Gage started to turn and walk away, let the DC Security deal with Redeye, until he realized Val was not following. He looked back to see her watch the retreating forms of the two guards escorting off Redeye, who slumped between them, dragging his feet.

“Ah, hell, I know that look,” Gage muttered, shaking his head. “You gonna rescue him, too? He might not go as easily as Mason did.”

“Mason had his pack to look out for. Redeye doesn’t have anything, and they’re gonna hold him until they think he’s paid his dues.” Val took Freya from Gage’s arms and followed after the three men, catching up in a few long-legged strides.

Shaun tugged on Gage’s hand. “She does that a lot,” he said, the bright tone to his voice indicating that he was smiling. “You know what she told me?” He jiggled Gage’s hand to get his attention; Gage looked away from Val, who greeted the guards with her sunniest smile and her baby held up high.

Looking down, Gage blinked, realizing he missed what Shaun was asking. “What’d she say?”

“She said she never really knew people until she got frozen. Everybody else was just a mark at the far end of her scope or someone to lie to,” Shaun replied, looking away from Gage to watch his mother negotiate with the guard. He tugged Gage with him, starting to follow up. “Life’s rough in the Commonwealth, but people help each other out.”

“What about Raiders like me?” Gage asked, letting himself be pulled along. “We take, and I’ve killed people.”

“So’s Mom.” Shaun yanked his hand free and stood in front of Gage. “But she’s doing better, and you are too. You’re here.”

They had stopped short of approaching Redeye, Val, and the DC Security. The guards looked at each other, shrugged, then pushed Redeye in Val’s direction, making him stumble. Redeye scuffed his feet as the guards sauntered off, leaving him to Valkyrie’s care. Even without hearing her words, Gage could see the serious look overtake Val’s face as she spoke to Redeye.

“It’s not about what she’s done, it’s about what she does now. What you’re doing now. You can’t change the past, but you can make tomorrow better,” Shaun continued. The boy turned around and looked up as Val approached, a sour-faced Redeye following her like a kicked puppy.

“She give you the ‘one chance’ speech, Red?” Gage asked, chuckling.

“You say that as if you’ve heard it,” Val replied. “Or did Mason give you his sob story about me bullying him into playing a good dog?” she teased.

Redeye looked ready to bolt. “Wait, Mason’s still alive? I thought you wholesale slaughtered everybody. I mean, you’re badass enough.... uh, Boss.” He jumped when Val clapped an arm around his shoulders, keeping him from taking off.

“I appreciate it, but no, I gave more than a few Raiders the chance to stick with me or die. Those who went down fighting, well, they made their choice. Like you, Red.” Val rubbed his shoulder. “I was thinking about setting up a radio station in Sanctuary, like what Diamond City has, and what we got with the Minutemen. You could be my coordinator.”

Redeye shook his head. “You can’t be serious. I thought you were just bullshitting those guys when you said I was your problem, man. Just figured you’d up and shoot me as soon as we were out of the city. Still don’t think you won’t.”

Valkyrie patted Redeye’s shoulder and gave him a light shove. “Hey, man, trust is risk. Guy once told me ‘a man has to plow with the oxen he has.’ You make do with what you got.” Shifting Freya in her grasp, Val leaned into Redeye’s space. “And, if you do decide to double cross me, I can still shoot you running.”

Gulping, Redeye nodded once, then again with more enthusiasm. “I, yeah, sure, man. Boss. Whatever you say.”

“Cool. So, just hang out with us while we finish our shit here, then we’re heading home. Just don’t instigate, okay?” Val grinned and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I know I can count on you.”

Redeye’s shoulders relaxed when she said that – Gage reflected for a moment on how many bullshit stories Red told about Colter or some other gang boss (conveniently deceased) told Redeye that they could count on him. Seeing Redeye shift and smile and rub the back of his head like he was embarrassed told Gage that he _never_ really heard it aloud.

 

As they headed out of Diamond City with supplies in hand, Redeye in tow, and an order receipt for a shipment of building materials to be sent out to Sanctuary, a Brotherhood Knight-Aspirant approached the family, speaking directly to Gage.

“Warden Gage, I’m glad I found you here. Elder Maxson has requested your return to duty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for coming with me on this story! I know what you're saying "Third arc???" but apparently I have to do things in threes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.


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